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MARCH  1999 

ISSUE  #462 

USA  S3. 95 

CANADA  S4. 95 


Talk  About  a  Cold  Reception! 


AL7PJ,  page  30 


QRP  Kit  Survey  (Y2K  precaution?) 
Ferrite  Loop  Xmtg  Antenna  (yep!) 
Filter  Design  for  Dummies 
CW:  A  Better  Fist  - 

CW:  How  to  Have  More  Fun 


Get  more  features  for  your  dollar  with  our 

REP-200  REPEATER 


A  microprocessor-controlled  repeater  with  full  auto- 
patch  and  many  versatile  dtmf  remote  control  fea- 
tures at  less  than  you  might  pay  for  a  bare  bones 

repeater  or  controller  alone! 


*  kit  still  only $1095 

■  factory  assembled  still  only  $1295 

50- 54.  1 43-174.  213-233,  420-475  MM/    (902-926  MHz  slitfMly  higher.) 
»  FCC  type  aeetpltd  fw  wmfnercilH  «rv(«  «i  1 50  A  i&0  MHz  baofls 

Digital  Voice  Recorder  Option.  Allows  message  up 
to  20  sec.  to  be  remotely  recorded  off  me  air.  Play 
back  at  user  request  by  DTMF  command,  or  as  a 
periodical  voice  id.  or  both  Great  for  making  club 
announcements  I only  $100. 

REP-2Q0C  Economy  Repeater,     Real-voice  ID,  no 

dtmf  or  autopatch.  _. Ktt  only  $795,  w&t$H95. 

REP-20QN  Repeater.  Without  controller  so  you  can 
use  your  own. Kit  only  $695,  w&t  $995. 


You'll  KICK  Yourself 

If  You  Build  a  Repeater 

Without  Checking  Out  Our  Catalog  First! 


Hamtronics  has  the  world's  most 
complete  line  of  modules  for 
making  repeaters.  In  addition  to 
exciters,  pa's,  and  receivers,  we 
offer  the  following  controllers. 

.            Inexpensive,  flexible  COR  module  with  timers, 
courtesy  beep,  audio  mixer only  549/ktt,  $79  wft 

CVY1D.    Traditional  diode  matrix  ID'er kit  only  $59. 

CW1D-2.    Eprom-comrolled  IDer. ..,.,  only  $M/k*t,  179  w/t 

DVfM.  Record  your  own  voice  up  to  20  sec  For  voice  id 
or  playing  club  announcements $59fkit,  $99  w/t 

Complete  COR  and  CW1D  all  on  one  board.  ID  in 
eprom,  Low  power  CMOS.  ,. only  $99/kitj  $149  w/t 

COR-6.  COR  with  real- voice  Id,  Low  power  CMOS,  non- 
volatile memory kit  only  $99,  wrt  only  $149. 

CQR-5.  up  controller  with  autopatch.  reverse  ap,  phone 
remote  control,  lots  of  DTMF  control  functions,  all  on  one 
board,  as  used  in  REF-Z00  Repeater  .. .,$379  w/t 


AP-3  Repeater  autopatch.  reverse  autopatch,  phone  line 
remote  control   Use  with  TD-2 kit  $99. 

TD-2,  Four-digit  DTMF  decoder/controller  Five  latching 
on-off  functions,  totl  call  re  stridor ,„„ kit  $79. 

TD-4,  DTMF  controller  as  above  except  one  on-off  function 
and  no  toll  call  restridor  Can  also  use  for  selective  calling; 
mute  speaker  unlit  someone  pages  you ...kit $49, 


SUBAUDIBLETONE  ENCODER/DECODER 


Access  all  your  favorite 
closed  repeaters! 

*  Encodes  all  standard  CTCSS 
tones  with  crystal  accuracy  and 
convenient  DIP  switch  selection. 

•  Comprehensive  manual  also  shows  how  you  can  set  up 
a  front  panel  switch  to  select  tones  for  several  repeaters 

■  Decoder  can  be  used  to  mute  receive  audio  and  is 
optimized  for  installation  in  repeaters  to  provide  closed 
access  High  pass  fiHer  gets  rid  of  annoying  buzz  in 
receiver     ©  New  tow  prices! 

•  TD-S  CTCSS  Encoder/Decoder  KB  ....now  only  $29 

•  td-5  CTCSS  Encoder/Decoder  Wiredrtested $49 


LOW  NOISE  RECEIVER  PREAMPS 


LNG^   )  GAASFET  PREAMP 
STILL  ONLY  $S9>  wired/tested 

•  Make  your  friends  sick  with 
envy!  Work  stations  they  don't 
even  know  are  there. 

•  Install  one  at  the  antenna  and 
overcome  coax  losses 

•  Available  for  28-3Q,  46-56.  137-1 SZ  152-172.  210- 
230,  400-470,  and  800+960  MHz  bands. 

LHW-i  )  ECONOMY  PREAMP 

ONLY  $24/kf! 

•  Miniature  MO SFET  Preamp 

*  Solder  terminals  allow  easy 
connection  inside  radios. 

•  Available  for  25-35,  35^55,  55-90,  90-120,  120-150, 
15Q-200.  2Q0-27Q>  and  400-500  MHz  hands 


TRANSMITTING  & 
RECEIVING  CONVERTERS 


No  need  to  spend  thousands  on 
new  transceivers  for  each  band! 

•  Convert  vhf  and  uhf  signals 
to  &  from  10M. 

•  Even  if  you  don't  have  a  10M  rig.  you  can  pick  up 
very  good  used  xmlrs  &  revrs  for  ne>ct  to  nothing 

•  Receiving  converters  (shown  above)  available  for 
various  segments  of  6M.  2M,  220.  and  432  MHz 

•  Rcvg  Conv  Kits  from  549,  wired/tested  units  only  $99 


Transmitting  converters 
for  2M.  432  MHz 
Kits  only  $39  vhf  or  $99  uhf, 
Power  amplifiers  up  to 

SOW  output. 


WEATHER  ALERT  RECEIVER 


A  sensitive  and  selective 
professional  grade  receiver  to 
monitor  critical  NOAA  weather 
broadcasts    Good  reception 
even  at  distances  of  70  mites  or 
more  with  suitable  antenna    No 
comparison  with  ordinary  consumer  radios! 

Automatic  mode  provides  storm  watch,  alerting  you  by 
un muting  receiver  and  providing  an  output  1o  trip  remote 
equipment  when  an  alert  tone  is  broadcast.  Crystal 
controlled  for  accuracy;  ail  7  channels  ( 162  40  to  162.55) 

Buy  just  trie  receiver  peb  module  m  kit  form  or  buy  the  Kit 
with  an  attractive  metal  cabinet.  AC  power  adapter,  and 
built-in  speaker    Also  available  factory  wired  and  tes'.e^ 
RWX  Rcvr  lul>  PCS  only  * m — w„uu._~ «™, — ^  $79 


RWX  Rcvr  kit  with  cabinet.  Speaker,  &  AC  adapter  „. , > $S9 

RWX  Rcvr  wired  nested  in  cabinet  wish  speaker  &  adapter $139 


WEATHER  FAX  RECEIVER 


1  ■  1l   A|   I  -■!■■.  F.  +  *  T  «t  -Z~m  |  + 


^~ ^ 


***** 


Join  me  fun.  Get  striking 
images  directly  from  the 
weather  satellites ! 

A  very  sensitive  wideband  fm 
receiver  optimized  for  NOAA 
APT  &  Russian  Meteor  weather  fax  on  (he  137MHz  band 

Designed  from  the  start  for  optimum  satellite  reception  not 
just  an  off-the-shelf  scanner  with  a  Shorted -out  IF  fitter! 

Covers  all  5  satellite  channels.  Scanner  circuit  &  recorder 
control  allow  you  to  automatically  capture  signals  as 
satellites  pass  overhead,  even  while  away  from  home. 

•  R139  Receiver  Kit  less  case      „ _  $159 

•  R139  Receiver  Kit  with  case  and  AC  power  adapter  $1 6 9 

•  RIM  Receiver  wft  in  case  with  AC  power  adapter  ,..$239 

•  Internal  PC  Demodulator  Board  &  Imaging  Software  $299 

•  Turnstile  Antenna .,.„ ...~^_ „„...$119 

•  Weather  Satellite  Handbook  m._„ „.„,.. ..$20 


SYNTHESIZED  FM 

EXCITER  &  RECEIVER  MODULES 


We   recently   introduced   new  vhf  fin 
exciters  and  receivers  which  do  not 
require  channel  crystals. 
NOW...  uhf  modules  are  also  available! 


Exciters  and  Receivers  provide  high  quality  nfafm  and 
fek  operation    Features  include 

•  Dip  switch  frequency  selection, 

•  Exceptional  modulation  for  voice  and  ctcss. 

•  Very  Jo  w  no  is  e  synth  esizer  for  rep  eater  s  ervic  e. 
9  Direct  fm  for  data  up  to  9S00  baud. 

»  TCXO  for  tight  frequency  accuracy  in  wide 
range  of  environmental  conditions. 

•  Next  day  shipping.  No  wait  for  crystals. 

EXCITERS: 

Rated  for  continuous  duty,  2-3W  output 

T301  VHF  Exciter:  for  various  bands  139-174MHZ*. 
216-226  MHz 

•  Kit  pum  band* ««*)  ...$109    (TCXO  option  $40) 

•  Wired/tested,  ind  TCXO    $189 

T304  UHF  Exciter:  vanous        ^JK 
bands  400-470  MHz'  ?  JJ^*j|  \ 

■  Kit  (44(M50  ham  band  only j 

inelTCXO  ..$149 

•  Wired/tested..  .$189 

*lor  gaul  1  export  use, 

RECEIVERS: 

R301  VHF  Receiver:  various  bands  139-1 74MHz*. 
216-226  MHz 

•  Kit  faro  tunns  «%)  ..only  $1 39     (TCXO  Option  S40) 

•  Wired/tested     5209 
(includes  TCXO) 

R304  UHF  Receiver:  various 
bands  400-470  MHz*, 

■  Kit  (44D'450  ham  band  onEy) 

md  TCXO    .$179 

•  Wired/tested    $209 


TRADITIONAL  CRYSTAL  CONTROLLED 
VHF  &  UHF  FM  EXCITERS  &  RECEIVERS 


FM  EXCITERS:   2W  output,  continuous  duty. 

*  TAS1:  for6M,2M,220MHz  „ kit  $99,  w/t  $169 

-  TA451:  for  420-475  MHz - kit  $99,  w/t  $169 

•  TA901:  for  902-928  MH2H  (0.5W  out) .  w/t  $169 

VHF  &  UHF  POWER  AMPLIFIERS, 

Output  levels  from  10W  to  100W. Starting  at  $99 


FM  RECEIVERS: 

Very  sensitive  -  0.1 5uV 
Superb  selectivity,  >10D  dB  down  at  ±12  kHz,  best 
available  anywhere,  flutter- proof  squelch.  For  46-54, 
72-76,  140-175,  or  21 6-225  MHz.  ...  kit  $129,  w/t  $189 

•  R144   RCVR.      Like   R100,   for   2M>   with   helical 
resonator  in  front  end............ kit  $159,  w/t  $219 

•  R451  FM  RCVR.  for  420-475  MHz    Similar  to  R100 
above    kit  S129.  w/t  $169 

.  R9Q1  FM  RCVR,  902-928MHz $159,  w/t  $219 


WWV  RECEIVER 


Get  time  &  frequency  checks 

without  buying  multiband  hf 

rcvr.  Hear  solar  activity  reports 

affecting  radio  propagation. 

Very  sensitive  and  selective 

crystal  controlled  superhet.  dedicated  to  listening  to  WWV 

on  TO  MHz     Performance  rivals  the  most  expensive  revrs 

•  RWWV  Rcvr  M,  PCB  only  „  .. _$59 


.  RWWV  Rcvr  krt  with  cat*  spkr.  A  12Vdc  adapter  .... 
•  RWWV  Rcvr  w/t  ii  cat*  with  Spfe  A  adapter 


_»9 

$129 


Buy  at  low,  factory-direct  net  prices  and  save! 

For  complete  info,  call  or  write  for  complete  catalog. 

Order  by  mail,  fax,  email,  or  phone  (9  12, 1-5  eastern  timet. 

Min.  $6  S&H  Charge  lor  r1  lb.  ptus  «dd'l  weight  &  insurance 

Use  Visa,  MC,  Discover,  check,  or  UPS  C.O.D. 


See  SPECIAL  OFFERS  and  view 
complete  catalog  on  Our  web  site: 

www.hamtronics.com 

email:  jv@hamtronics.com 


Our  36w  Year 


ronics,  inc. 


65-D  Moul  Rd;  Hilton  NY  14468-9535 
Phone  716-392-9430  (fax  -9420) 


1 


mA 


Why  do  hams  from  30  countries  and  all  SO  states  come  to  the  Dayto 


After  much  thought,  we  wondered  why  our 
visitors  return  to  the  Dayton  Hamvention- 
year  after  year  So  we  asked  them.  Here's 
what  they  told  us. 

Meet  friends!  The  Dayton  Hamvention  is 
the  annual  event  for  the  ham  radio  operator, 
There  is  a  certain  "chemistry"  with  so  many 
hams  that  just  doesn't  exist  anywhere  else. 

The  latest  equipment!  Major 
manufacturers  introduce  new  products  at 
Hamvention.  Try  out  the  equipment.  Talk  to 
the  reps! 

Shop  at  the 

World's  largest 

Ham  radio, 

electronics  and 

computer  flea 

market/  Our  Flea 

Market  is  so  large  it 

is  hard  to  imagine 

unless  you  have 

been  here.  With  2.638  outdoor  spaces  you 


Dayton 
Hamvention*  is 

something  that 

alt  hams  should 

experience! 


Three  great 
days  to  explore 

everything 
ham  radio  has 

to  offer  ! 
May  14,  15,  16,  1999 


can  find  new  and 

used  ham 

equipment, 

electrical  parts, 

computers,  tools, 

antique  radios, 

microscopes  and 

some  really 

strange  stuff  that  you  didn't  even  know  you 

needed. 

Listen  to  the  Forum  Speakers!  We  have 
free  Forums  on  virtually  every  topic,  from 
VHF/UHF  to  DX,  SSTV/ATV,  Packet 
AMSAT/SAREXt  antennas,  contesting  and 
much  much  mora  Since  our  visitors  have 
diverse  interests,  we  try  to  have  something 
for  everyone. 

Visit  the  exhibits!  With  over  500  indoor 
exhibit  booths  you  can  find  anything  from 
antennas  and  books  to  computers,  electrical 
parts,  meters,  software,  tools,  wire  and 
weather  instruments.  You  name  it  and 


someone  probably  has  it  for  sale  at  the 
Dayton  Hamvention'5. 

A  family  event!.   At  Hamvention-;  you  are 
among  friends,  other  hams  just  like  you  that 
have  come  to  Dayton  to  enjoy  the  show. 

Enjoy  the  Alternate  Activities.   We  have 
planned  activities  for  those  who  just  want  to 
do  something  different.    Bus  tours  of  the 
area,  progressive  lunches  and  more,  in 
addition,  many  clubs  have  Unofficial 
Activities  at  local  hotels  and  restaurants. 


All  infomiation^  including  how  to 

become  an  exhibitor,  flea  market 

vendor*  forum  speaker,  and  how  to 

obtain  an  ADA  parking  space  is 

available  on  our  web  $it£  at 

wwwJtatnvention.org 


Need  a  brochure?  Send  us  e-mail  at 
info@hamvention.org  or  FAX  us  at 
937-274-8369. 


General  Chairman  Dick  Miller.  N8CBU  •  Asst.  General  Chairman  Jtm  Graver.  KB8PSO  *  WEB  &  Internet  Access  Compliments  of  EriNet 

Sponsored  by  the  Dayton  Amateur  Radio  Association.  Inc. 


_ _ . ... ,  r .  — ,. 


■■'■■■■ ptf^j 


-  -  -    -  -  -  -  - 


ADVANCE     REGISTRATIO 

FOR  CHECK  OR  CREDIT  CARD  ORDERS: 

Make  checks  payable  toi  Dayton  HAMVENTION 

Enclose  the  amount  indicated  in  U.S.  dollars.  For  credit  card  orders,  please 

acid  S 1 .25yt»cket  handling  charge. 

A  $25  service  charge  mil  be  assessed  on  all  returned  checks. 

Mail  to:  Daylon  Hamvention  Bo*  1446 
Dayton.  OH  ■  45401-1446 

Of 

Fax  to:  (937)  454-5655 

Please  type  or  print  your  name  and  address  clearly! 


Event  Dates:  May  14,  15,  16,  1999 


Admission  (valid  all  3  days) 

Grand  Banquet  

Alternate  Activities 

Dine-A-Round,  Friday  

Crty  Tour,  Friday  

Shop-A-Round,  Saturday  

Cooking  Class,  Saturday 

Make  It  and  Take  ltr  Saturday 

Gardening  Class,  Saturday 

Mary  Kay  Make-Over,  Saturday 
Credit  Card  Handling  Charge  

"  $20,00  at  door  "$45,00  at  door,  if  available 


Quantity 


@  $16.00* 
@  S40.00" 


73      12  3  4 


% 

$ 


©517. 
3  37.00 
©S5.00 
8  $20.00 

@  $5.00 

e  S3.oo 

@$5.00 

.0  $1 .25/ticket    ■■ 

Total 


$ 

$ 
$ 
S 

s 

$ 
$ 

$ 


Name 


□ 


Call 


t     I     I     I     I     I  i     '  ■ 


Expiration  Data: 


j. 


i    i    i 


Month        Yoar 


Address 


Crty 


State 


Zip 


Daytime  Phone  ( 


Evening  Phone  (  ) 


E-mail  Address 


QQ 

hamvention* 


mm 


PLEASE  PRINT!  THIS  IS  YOUR  RETURN  LABEL. 


& 


ASTRON 

CORPORATIO 


9Autry 

Irvine.  C A  92618 

(949)  458-7277  •  Fax  (949}  458-0826      www.astroncorp.com 


SWITCHING  POWER  SUPPLIES 


SS-10 
SS-12 
33-18 
SS-25 
S3-30 


CONT. 

7 
10 
15 
20 

25 


ICS 

10 
12 
18 
25 
30 


WT.(LBS) 

3.2 

3.4 

3.6 

4.2 

5.0 


SS-25M  With  volt  &  amp  meters 
SS  30M  With  volt  &  amp  meters 


ASTRON  POWER  SUPPLIES 

HEAVY  DUTY  •  HIGH  QUALITY  •  RUGGED  *  RELIABLE 


SPECIAL  FEATURES 

•  SOLID  STATE  ELECTRONICALLY  REGULATED 

•  FOLD-BACK  CURRENT  LIMITING  Protects  Power  Supply 
from  excessive  current  &  continuous  shorted  output 

•  CROWBAR  OVER  VOLTAGE  PROTECTION  on  all  Models 
tictpt  R$  3A.  RS4JL  RS-5A  RS  4L  RS-5L 

•  MAINTAIN  REGULATION  &  LOW  RIPPLE  at  tow  line  Input 

VOttage 

•  HEAVY  OUTY  HEAT  SINK  *  CHASSIS  MOUNT  RISE 

•  THREE  CONDUCTOR  POWER  CORD  except  for  RS-3A 

•  ONE  YEAR  WARRANTY  •  MADE  IN  U.S.A. 


PERFORMANCE  SPECIFICATIONS 

•  INPUT  VOLTAGE:  105  125  VAC 

•  OUTPUT  VOLTAGE:  13.8  VDC  t  D„Q5  volts 
(internally  Adjustable:  11-15  VDC) 

*  RIPPLE  Less  than  5mv  peak  to  peak  (full  load  & 
low  line) 

*  All  units  available  m  220  VAC  input  voltage 
(except  for  SL-11A) 


SLSEI 


ICC 


•  LOW  PROFILE  POWER  SUPPLY 


RS-L  SERIES 


RM  SERIES 


MODEL  RM-35M 


MODEL 

SL-11A 
SL11A 
SL-11S 
SL-11R-RA 


Colors 
Gray     Slick 


Continuous 
Duty  [Amps] 

7 

7 

7 


ICS* 

lAmpsI 

11 
11 
11 
11 


Size  |IH 


i 


2**7    *9tt 

2**7**9% 
4^*7    *9* 


*  POWER  SUPPLIES  WITH  BUILT  IN  CIGARETTE  LIGHTER  RECEPTACLE 

Continuous  ICS4  Size  (IN) 

Duty  lAmpsI         (Amps)  H  *  W  *  D 


MODEL 

RS-4L 
RS-5L 


mm 


WL 


3 
A 


4 
5 


3V?  *  6'/* *  7% 
3%*6Vi*PA 


6 
7 


19"  RACK  MOUNT  POWER  SUPPLIES 

Continuous 
MODEL 
RM-12A 
RM  -35A 
RM-50A 
RM-60A 

Separate  Volt  and  Amp  Meters 
RM-12M 
RM-35M 
RM-50M 
RM  60M 


Duty  lAmpsI 
9 
26 
37 
50 

9 
25 
37 
50 


(Amps) 
12 

35 
50 
55 

12 
35 
50 

55 


[IN] 
RxWxO 

574x19x8** 
5'A  x  19  x  Wk 
5%  x  19  x  12^ 

7x19x12Vz 

5V4x19x8V< 

5%  x  19  x  12% 

5^  x  19x12'/? 

7  x  19  x  12ft 


Shipping 
WL  [lhi.] 

16 

38 

50 

60 

16 
38 
50 
60 


RS-A  SERIES 


MODEL  RS-7A 


MODEL 

RS-3A 

RS-4A 

RS-5A 

RS-7A 

RS-10A 

RS-12A 

RS-12B 

RS-20A 

RS-3SA 


Ml 
Gray        Slacl 


i 
* 


t 


CoilllVQH 

Dilf  (Asps) 

2-5 

3 

4 

5 

7.5 

9 

9 

16 

25 

37 
57 


ICS" 
jAmpsj 

3 
4 
5 
7 

10 
12 
12 

20 
35 

50 

70 


Sill  [IN| 
H  x  W  x  D 

3  x  4V  x  $-* 
3^  X  6'*  X  9 

3^  x  6V|  x  Vk 
33A  X  6  V?  X  9 

4  x  Vh  X  10aA 
4V?  x  S  x  9 

4  X  7Va  x  10^ 

5  x  9  x  10V? 
5x  11  xll 

6  x  13^  x  11 

6  x  13Vi  x  12% 


Slippiig 
Wl   (lis  | 

4 

5 

7 

9 

11 

13 

13 

18 

27 

46 
48 


CittJiint 

Ditf  | Amps) 


RS-M  SERIES 


MOOEL  RS-35M 


MODEL 

•  Switchable  vortand  Amp  meter 
RS-12M 

•  Separate  volt  and  Amp  meters 
RS20M 

RS-50M 
RS-70M 


16 
25 

37 

57 


ICS" 
|Ai»pi] 

12 

20 

35 

50 
70 


Size  (IK) 
H  x  W  x  0 

4W  x  6  X  9 

5  x  9  x  1QV^ 
5x  11  X11 

6x  13%  x  11 

6  x  13V*  x  12*4 


Skipping 
Wt.  |lls] 

16 

27 

46 
48 


VS-M  AND  VRM-M  SERIES 


MODEL  VS^35M 


RS-S  SERIES 


MODEL  RS-12S 


Separate  Volt  and  Amp  Meters  *  Output  Voltage  adjustable  from  2-15  volts  •  Current  limit  adjustable  from  1 .5  amps 
to  Full  Load 

Ctetliiois 
MODEL  Ditf  [Atf M) 

@13.8VDC  @10VDC  @5VDC 


VS^12M 

VS-20M 

VS-35M 

VS-50M 
VS-70M 


9 

16 

25 

37 
67 


Variable  rack  mount  power  supplies 
VftM-35M  25 

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7CS— /ftfermitfenl  Communication  Service  (50%  Duty  Cycle  5mm  on  5  mm  off) 


CIRCLE  16  ON  READER  SERVICE  CfcRl 


THE  TEAM 

El  Supremo  &  Founder 
Wayne  Green  W2NSD/1 

Associate  Publisher 
F,  I.  Marion 

Associate  Technical  Editor 
Larry  AntonuK  WB9RRT 

Nitty  Gritty  Stuff 
J.  Clayton  Burnett 
Priscilla  Gauvin 
Joyce  Sawtelie 

Contributing  Culprits 
Bill  Brown  WB8ELK 
Mike  Bryce  WB8VGE 
Joseph  E,  Carr  K4IPV 
Michael  Geier  KB1UM 
Jim  Gray  W1XU/7 
Jack  Heller  KB7NO 
Chuck  Houghton  WB6IGP 
Dr.  Marc  Leavey  WA3AJR 
Andy  MacAllister  W5ACM 
Dave  Miller  NZ9E 
Joe  Moell  K0OV 
Sieve  Nowak  KE8YN/5 
Carole  Perry  WB2MGP 

Advertising  Sales 
Frances  Hyvarinen 
Roger  Smith 
603-924-0058 
800-274-7373 
Fax  603*924^8613 

Circulation 

Linda  Coughlan 


MARCH  1999 
ISSUE  #462 


I Amateur 
Radio  Today 

TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


FEATURES 


DEPARTMENTS 


10    The  Pluck  of  the  Irish  —  K9AZG 

Was  Wee  Mac  a  leprechaun  or  a  pirate — or  both? 

14    Transmitting  Ferrite  Loop  for  80/160  —  G2BZQ 
Thirty  years  of  experimenting ...  now  it's  your  turn! 

20    Signals  From  the  Ice:  Now  Thafs  Really  Cool!  —  KL7JR 

Here's  what  happens  when  hams  meet  Alaska  s  Matanuska 
Glacier. 

23     Anti-Metric?  —  WD0GCK 

You  already  use  it  more  than  you  think! 

26     Everyman's  Guide  to  Active  Filter  Design  —  KC3ZQ 

Now  you  know. 

31      Keys  to  Good  Code  —  W6BNB 

Unlocking  the  secrets  of  sending  precise  Morse  code. 

55    Enjoy  CW  Rag-Chewing  —  W6BNB 

Some  pointers  for  good  —  and  fun  —  communicating. 


WB6IGP    50 

Above  &  Beyond 

49 

Ad  index 

64 

Barter  'rV  Buy 

KB7NO     46 

The  Digftal  Port 

WSACM    53 

Hamsats 

K0OV        42 

Homing  In 

6 

Letters 

W2NSD/1    4 

Never  Say  Die 

W2NSD@ad.com 

48 

New  Products 

W1XU/7    62 

Propagation 

WBSVGE  44 

QRP 

8 

QRX 

6,  30,  63 

Radio  Bookshop 

41 

Special  Events 

54 

Updates 

Data  Entry  &  Other  Stuff 
Christine  Aubert 
Norman  Marian 

Business  Office 

Editorial    -    Advertising    -    Circulation 

Feedback  -  Product  Reviews 

73  Amateur  Radio  Today  Magazine 

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Fax:  603-924^8613 

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REVIEW 


37    QRP  Temptations  —  W3DX 

Here's  a  roundup  of  low-power  kits  out  there  today. 


Web  Page 

w\\  \v.\\  avne^reenxom 


E-Mail 
design  73@aol  .com 


On  the  cover:  Randy  AL7PJ  kept  his  cool  while  sending  "Signals  From  the  Ice"  (page  20),  Photo  by 
KL7JR.  We  are  always  looking  for  interesting  articles  and  cover  photos— with  or  without  each  other. 
Your  name  could  be  in  this  space  next  month,  and  our  check  could  be  on  its  way  to  you!  You  couldn't 
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Number  1  on  your 


card 


Neuer  srv  DIE 


Wayne  Green  W2NSD/1 

W2NSD@aol.com 


How  Come? 

Yeah,  how  come  Wayne  is 
writing  all  these  long  editori- 
als? One  thing  I  haven1!  done 
in  all  my  48  years  of  writing 
editorials  is  give  some  back- 
ground as  to  how  1  happened. 
Well,  I  Figured  my  readers 
would  be  more  interested  in 
what  I  had  to  say  about  things 
than  about  me  personally. 

I  was  bom  in  1922  in  Little- 
ton, New  Hampshire.  My 
mother  was  a  commercial  art- 
ist and  my  dad  was  an  aviator 
with  the  Army  Air  Force,  sta- 
tioned at  Langley  Field,  Vir- 
ginia. He  took  me  up  in  a 
Martin  bomber  when  I  was 
about  two  months  old,  so  I 
got  an  early  start. 

My  great  grandfather  was  a 
pioneer  in  homeopathy.  He 
was  the  town  doctor  in 
Littleton,  where  my  father 
also  was  born.  A  Green  pub- 
lished the  first  Bible  in 
America,  and  Greens  founded 
Greene  County,  NY  and  Green 
County,  MI.  A  Greene  also 
founded  Rhode  Island,  but  it's 
a  small  state,  so  that  probably 
isn't  very  important 

By  an  odd  coincidence, 
all  of  my  ancestors,  from 
every  branch  of  the  family, 
came  over  here  before  1 700. 
Pioneers. 

My  grandfather  was  an  in- 
ventor. A  successful  inventor. 
It  was  his  inventions  that  got 
Citgo  started  back  in  1910, 
and  during  the  depression  in 
the  1930s  he  turned  Conti- 
nental Can  around,  saving 
them  from  bankruptcy. 

So  I  was  ripe  for  amateur 
radio  when  I  was  a  kid  and 
started  building  radios  when  I 
was  15,  By  16  I  was  busy 
making  contacts  on  40m  CW, 
But  it  was  the  frontiers  of 
amateur  radio  that  attracted 


me.  Pioneering  blood,  maybe. 
By  1939  Td  built  a  2-l/2m 
walkie-talkie.  This  interest  in 
radio  naturally  got  me  into  a 
technical  univeisity,  Rensselaer, 
And  then,  when  World  War  II 
came  along,  into  the  Navy  as 
an  electronics  technician.  I 
volunteered  for  submarine 
duty,  where  I  served  from 
1943-1945,  Then  they  trans- 
ferred me  to  the  submarine 
school  in  New  London,  CT  to 
teach  electronics. 

After  the  war  I  went  back 
to  college,  where  I  was  the 
president  of  the  radio  club 
and  founded  WRPI,  the  cam- 
pus radio  station.  Today  that's 
the  biggest  student  activity* 

After  college  I  worked  as  a 
radio  engineer  and  DJ,  then 
as  chief  cameraman  at  WPIX 
in  New  York  and  as  a  TV  di- 
rector at  KBTV  in  Dallas 
and  WXEL  in  Cleveland. 

1  got  certificated  and  worked 
as  a  professional  psycholo- 
gist I  worked  on  a  color  or- 
gan on  a  Guggenheim  Grant, 
and  as  the  Secretary  of  the 
Music  Research  Institute, 
where  I  wrote  my  first  book, 
Music  For  Your  Moods. 

But  I  was  more  interested 
in  pioneering  new  ham 
modes,  so  when  I  heard  about 
narrowband  FM  in  1946,  I 
immediately  got  on  the  air 
with  it.  That's  now  the  stan- 
dard for  VHF  communication. 

When  sideband  came  along, 
as  the  editor  of  CQ,  I  pushed 
that. 

i  don't  want  to  turn  this 
into  a  full-fledged  biography, 
so  Til  end  there.  I  just  wanted 
to  give  you  an  idea  of  how  1 
got  the  way  I  am. 

Iconoclast 

My  dictionary  defines  an 
iconoclast  as  someone  who 


attacks  conventional  or  cher- 
ished beliefs  and  institutions 
as  being  false  or  harmful. 
Hey,  that* s  me!  I  am  defi- 
nitely an  iconoclast!  And  the 
more  I  look  into  things  (that's 
called  research),  the  more  I 
find  I'm  disbelieving  conven- 
tional institutions.  And  yes, 
these  institutions  and  beliefs 
are  harming  us.  And  they're 
false.  But  we've  all  been  hood- 
winked (a.k.a.  brainwashed, 
hypnotized)  into  believing  in 
them. 

We  are  taught  from  the  ear- 
liest childhood  by  our  par- 
ents, our  peers,  neighbors  and 
the  media  to  believe  in  the 
goodness  of  mom  and  apple 
pie.  We're  thoroughly  incul- 
cated with  beliefs  that  are 
making  us  sick,  robbing  us  of 
20-30  years  of  life,  and  keep- 
ing us  from  making  much 
money. 

We  believe  in  our  school 
system.  Ohf  we  know  it  has 
some  problems.  More  money 
might  Fix  them,  right?  And 
we  believe  in  doctors.  Sure, 
there  are  some  quacks.  We 
believe  in  our  food  suppliers 
who  are  providing  us  with 
"enriched"  and  lite1*  prod- 
ucts, and  we're  protected  by 
the  FDA.  Most  of  us  don't  be- 
lieve our  government  would 
lie  to  us  about  really  impor- 
tant things.  Of  course  there 
are  a  few  conspiracy  nuts 
who  are  forever  trying  to 
make  trouble  over  the  Fed, 
the  Illuminati,  the  National 
Security  Council,  the  New 
World  Order,  and  so  on.  And 
we  have  a  few  atheists  who 
(gulp!)  don't  believe  in  God. 
That  reminds  me  of  the  athe- 
ist in  the  funeral  parlor  - —  all 
dressed  up  and  no  place  to  go. 

Then  there  are  the  govern- 
ment cover-ups  such  as  the 


4  73  Amateur  Radio  Today  ■  March  1999 


UFOs  and  ETsf  and  the 
Amelia  Earhart  disappear- 
ance, which  I  knew  person- 
ally about.  Could  the  Apollo 
Moon  visits  have  all  been 
faked? 

We're  being  bought  off 
with  entertainment  to  keep  us 
too  busy  to  figure  things  out. 
How  much  of  your  life  is 
spent  working,  sleeping  and 
being  entertained?  The  aver- 
age family,  according  to  the 
latest  research,  watches  TV 
seven  hours  a  day! 

As  a  registered  iconoclast  I 
question  the  conventional  wis- 
dom (stupidity?)  about  fann- 
ing, the  food  industry,  die  IRS/ 
FDA/AMA/ADA,  our  money, 
the  American  Cancer  Society, 
doctors,  hospitals,  NASA, 
Congress,  Clinton,  the  phar- 
maceutical industry,  immuni- 
zation, alternative  health,  the 
military,  the  war  on  drugs, 
the  war  on  poverty,  public 
schools,  colleges,  religions, 
the  music  industry,  sports,  ra- 
dio, TV,  newspapers,  news 
magazines,  the  dangers  of 
pot,  insurance,  banks,  psy- 
chiatry, milk,  sugar,  white 
flour,  cooking,  denial  amal- 
gam, NutraSweet,  big  busi- 
ness, lawyers,  judges,  most 
jobs,  prisons,  UFO/ET  de- 
bunking, unions,  fluoridation, 
global  warming,  the  ozone 
hole,  tobacco,  liquor,  coffee, 
property  taxes,  Social  Secu- 
rity, environmentalism,  freon's 
hazards,  the  pyramids*  age, 
dowsing  debunking,  reincar- 
nation debunking,  foreign 
aid,  public  water  supplies, 
Medicare,  and  so  on.  I'll 
think  of  more. 

Unless  you're  a  newcomer 
to  these  pages,  you've  read 
my  exposes  of  all  of  the 
above.  And  more. 

Opportunity 

There  it  is,  knocking  again 
—  quick,  get  your  ear  plugs. 
Say,  what  does  it  take  to  get 
you  off  dead  center?  Out  of 
that  couch  with  the  TV  turned 
off?  Hello? 

There's  a  great  opportunity 
that's  wide  open  right  now 
that  could  be  started  with  a 
micro  loan  and  built  into  an 
international  multi-billion  dol- 
lar chain.  Please  don't  make 
me  do  it!  I  want  to  keep  doing 


73  and  my  cold  fusion  jour- 
nal, and  write  books.  Oh,  Fd 
[ike  to  have  the  freedom  to 
visit  another  70  countries,  to 
ski  and  scuba  dive  around 
the  world.  So  please  don't, 
through  your  laziness  and 
lack  of  motivation,  force  me 
to  get  this  business  started 
myself.  I  have  this  problem 
with  seeing  something  that 
"someone"  should  do  and, 
lacking  a  someone,  I  say  what 
the  hell  and  do  it. 

Okay,  let's  get  down  to 
business  here.  Look,  there  are 
tens  of  thousands  of  day  care 
centers,  so  who  needs  more, 
right?  Only  any  parents  who 
have  a  serious  interest  in  the 
development  of  their  chil- 
dren. Sometimes  I  get  the 
feeling  that  all  too  many  par- 
ents find  their  children  a  ter- 
rible nuisance,  They  let  day 
care  centers  babysit  I  hem 
during  the  day  and  hire  a 
babysitter  at  night.  Then,  when 
they  get  to  be  five,  they  pui 
em  into  kindergarten  and  let 
schools  do  the  day  care.  They 
even  provide  transportation. 

1  don't  mean  to  be  critical 
(I'm  lying),  but  if  you'll 
spend  a  crummy  seven  bucks 
and  get  the  Pocket  Hook  How 
to  Ruise  a  Brighter  Cfu'hf  by 
Joan  Beck,  you'll  find  out 
that  if  a  child  is  provided  with 
the  right  learning  materials 
and  stimuli  at  the  right  time 
for  the  child's  brain  and  coor- 
dination development,  it's 
easy  to  increase  a  child's  IQ 
by  20  or  more  points.  This  is 
early  learning  that's  not  avail- 
able in  many  (if  any)  day  care 
outfits. 

You  say  your  child's  day 
care  center  is  excellent?  Sure, 
then  tell  me  how  many  lan- 
guages your  child  was  taught 
between  the  ages  of  one  and 
three.  That's  when  kids  are 
able  to  learn  just  about  any 
number  of  languages,  to  speak 
them  without  an  accent,  and  to 
think  in  each  of  the  languages, 
switching  from  one  to  the 
other  with  ease.  After  three, 
this  learning  opportunity  is 
over.  Zip.  gone. 

There  are  similar  periods  in 
a  child's  development  when  it 
quickly  and  eagerly  learns 
certain  things  thai  will  never 
be  as  easy  to  learn  later.  Win- 
dows of  learning  and  devel- 


opment opportunity  are  open- 
ing and  closing  (permanently) 
while  you  are  putting  it  in 
storage  at  a  day  care  center. 

The  super  day  care  center 
of  the  21st  century  will  check 
your  child  to  see  when  it  is 
rcad\  to  learn  what,  and  then 
give  it  the  attention  and  expo* 
sure  needed  to  build  those 
skills.  It  will  have  native- 
speaking  people  to  teach  the 
children  a  dozen  or  so  Ian* 
guages.  Kids  can  (and  will 
love  to)  learn  to  read  and 
write  by  four,  if  permitted. 
And  so  on  it  goes,  but  only  if 
the  kids  have  the  attention 
they  need* 

In  these  days  when  it  lakes 
both  parents  to  make  as  much 
money  as  one  used  to  make. 
day  care  centers  are  needed. 
Virtually  no  parents  are 
equipped  to  teach  their  chil- 
dren a  dozen  languages,  so 
there  will  be  a  need  for  that,  if 
nothing  else, 

Children  love  to  learn. 
They're  interested  in  every- 
thing and,  if  permitted,  will 
absorb  an  amazing  amount  of 
information.  Kids  love  to 
learn  to  identify  flowers  and 
trees,  animals,  stars,  and  so 
on.  They  want  to  know  about 
everything  they  can  see,  hear, 
feel  and  taste.  It's  natural.  In- 
stead, many  parents  imprison 
their  kids  in  playpens  or  cribs 
during  the  time  when  their 
learning  ability  is  trying  to 
explode  outward.  They  sedate 
and  stupefy  them  with  TV.  If 
your  kid  has  an  opportunity 
to  play  with  a  piano  or  other 
musical  instruments  at  three 
and  four,  the  opportunity 
should  be  there.  When  1  was 
six,  I  wanted  to  [earn  to  play 
the  piano  and  my  father  al- 
most had  to  beat  me  to  stop 
that  nonsense.  Later,  friends 
heard  of  my  interest  and  gave 
nne  their  old  piano.  My  dad 
had  it  hauled  off  and  thrown 
awav  so  he  wouldn't  have  to 
listen  to  me  practice.  Oh  well. 
I  guess  there  isn't  any  big 
need  for  another  composer 
anyway. 

That's  an  extreme  case,  but 
are  you  doing  something 
similar  to  your  kids? 

So  how  about  getting  to- 
gether with  some  other  parents 
and  starting  a  super  day  care 
center?  And  then  cloning  it! 


!  Fve  found  several  more  su- 
perb books  on  the  subject 
you'll  want  to  read  if  I  can 
get  you  o  IT  the  couch. 

Medical  Research 

Yesterday  a  ham  whom  I'd 
met  at  the  Peoria  Hamfest 
stopped  by  to  visit,  bringing 
along  two  radionics  machines 
and  a  colored  light  system. 
He  had  a  long  list  of  amazing 
cures  he'd  achieved  with  them. 
So.  how  much  do  you  know 
about  radionics?  They're  simi- 
lar to  Hieronymus  Machines, 
which  were  first  described  in 
Analog  back  around  1956. 
Hulda  Clark  explains  how  to 
build  one  in  her  A  Cure  For 
All  Illnesses.  Thafs  a  book 
that  1  don't  recommend,  by 
the  way.  Fve  written  about 
these  gadgets  in  the  past,  but  1 
don't  recall  ever  getting  any 
encouraging  reader  feedback. 
How  about  using  colored 
lights  to  cure  illnesses?  How 
can  that  possibly  work? 

Today  1  talked  with  a  couple 
of  people  who  are  using  Rife 
technology  machines  and  also 
claim  to  be  having  some  con- 
sistent cures  for  illnesses, 
Fve  written  about  Royal 
Raymond  Rife,  his  incredible 
microscopes,  and  his  approach 
to  curing  illnesses  before, 
too,  so  I  won1!  go  into  all  that 
again,  basically,  Rife  found 
that  specific  radio  frequencies 
would  demolish  pathogens. 

Fve  also  some  books  on  the 
Lakhovsky  Multi-Wave  Os- 
cillator, citing  some  remark- 
able results  using  it. 

Fve  a  friend  who  is  achiev- 
ing cures  and  healing  with 
magnets. 

What  I  don't  have  are  any 
scientific  double-blind  stud- 
ies of  these  approaches  to  heal- 
ing. If  any  of  them  work,  our 
medical  establishment  should 
investigate  them  and  develop 
their  designs  and  applications. 

The  medical  establishment 
has  a  long  and  virtually  un- 
blemished history  of  ignoring 
new  ideas  for  as  long  as  pos- 
sible, and  crucifying  their 
proponents.  The  pharmaceu- 
tical industry;  which  has  a 
tight  hold  on  the  medical 
industry's  jugular  when  it 
comes  to  implementing  any 
cost-cutting  developments,  has 


a  basic  rule  —  if  we  can't 
patent  it  and  charge  top  dollar 
for  it,  you  ain't  gonna  get  it, 

So,  what  do  you  know 
about  radionics?  Rife  ma- 
chines, Lakhovsky  MWOs, 
magnets,  colored  lights,  and 
other  alternative  devices  which 
may  be  able  to  help  repair  our 
bodies  for  us? 

Perhaps  I  should  add  stuff 
like  carbon  dioxide,  hydro- 
gen peroxide,  UV  light  the 
Rioelectrifler™.  silver  col- 
loid, and  other  such  healing 
technologies.  Well,  they  all 
should  be  honestly  investi- 
gated and  tested,  no  matter 
how  crazy  they  seem. 

Between  our  paying  around 
double  what  any  other  coun- 
try has  to  pay  for  health  care 
and  getting  poorer  results 
than  some  third-world  coun- 
tries provide,  it's  time  for 
some  group  to  blow  the 
whistle.  Congress,  w+iose  kitty 
is  well  fed  by  the  medical  in- 
dustry lobbyists,  isn't  about  to 
rock  the  boat.  Perhaps  we  need 
to  set  up  a  consumer's  coopera- 
tive which  could  then  bring  a 
class  action  suit   aeainst   the 

Jfc_r 

AMA?  FDA,  our  hospitals, 
and  the  pharmaceutical  in- 
dustry for  a  couple  trillion 
dollars  for  malpractice. 

The  fact  is  that  we  have  a 
long  wray  to  go  in  understand- 
ing the  mysteries  of  our  bod- 
ies. M  isoelectric  currents  and 
magnetic  fields  seem  able  to 
even  help  regrow  bones. 

There's  dowsing,  which  has 
been  scientifically  proven  to 
work,  but  for  which  we  have 
no  logical  explanation.  And 
that  is  also  true  of  psychoki- 
nesis, psychometry,  precogni- 
tion, remote  viewing,  and  so 
on. 

You  don't  even  have  to  take 
my  word,  or  the  word  of  the 
researchers  on  whom  Fin  de- 
pending for  my  data,  that  all 
these  things  are  real.  You  can 
learn  to  dowse,  or  any  other 
of  the  above  things  you 
would  rather  reject  as  crazy. 
It's  an  ability  that  everyone 
seems  to  have.  A  latent  ability 
that  thrives  when  exercised. 
Look  here,  cheapskate,  spend 
S7  for  Bevy  Jargers'  new 
pocket  book  on  the  subject. 
It's  an  instruction  manual  that 

Continued  on  page  59 


73  Amateur  Radio  Today  *  March  1999    5 


L  ETTERS 


Number  6  on  your  Feedback  card 


From  the  Ham  Shack 


Dave  Miller  NZ9E,  I  agree 
completely  with  your  editorial 
take  on  the  illegal  drug  problem 
("Never  Say  Die/*  January 
1 999.  page  60).  By  making  huy- 
ing  and  possessing  drugs  a 
crime,  the  government  has  only 
escalated  the  price,  made  drugs 
more  appealing  lo  those  who 
enjov  the  dare  and  the  danger, 
and  increased  the  possibility  of 
an  addict  buying  poorly 
handled  or  tainted  drugs.  It 
hasn't  done  a  thing  to  solve  the 
real  problem. 

The  government  doesn't  seem 
to  get  it.  Illegal  drug  usage  isn't 
a  crime,  it's  a  vice. 

There's  a  big  difference  be- 
tween a  crime  and  a  vice.  A 
crime  occurs  when  an  innocent 
victim  is  the  object  of  the  ac- 
tion— such  as  in  robbery,  rape, 
or  murder.  The  innocent  party  is 
directly  targeted.  With  a  vice, 
the  victim  is  oneself.  Excessive 
drinking  i*  a  vice,  so  is  smoking, 
overeating,  gambling,  prostitu- 
tion, and  any  other  self-destruc- 
tive behavior.  But  they're  not 
crimes,  tivcn  though  people  will 
say,  'Isn't  it  a  crime  that  so  and 
so  is  involved  in  that "  ihafs  jusl 
an  expression.  It  isn't  a  crime 
aaainst  society,  it's  a  self-abu- 
sive  vice,  Our  leaders  have  to 
come  to  terms  with  the  distinc- 
tion. As  you  wrote  in  your  edi- 
torial, Prohibition — which  made 
manufacturing,  selling,  buying 
and  using  alcoholic  beverages  a 
crime  back  in  the  "20s — was  a 
complete  flop.  Why?  Because 
alcoholism  is  a  vice,  not  a 
crime.  The  government  finally 
realized  l hat  (albeit  1 3  years  af- 
ter passing  the  Prohibition 
amendment). 

Criminalizing  vices  is  always 
unproductive  and  often  cata- 
clysmic, as  we're  now  finding 
out  with  the  War  on  Drugs,  Edu- 
cation, along  with  recognizing 
and  treating  addictive  personal- 
ity traits,  is  a  much  better  an- 
swer. We're  finally  at  the  point 


where  we  recognize  that  eating 
disorders,  gambling  addiction 
and  alcoholism  are  treatable  ill- 
nesses. When  will  we  recognize 
illicit  drug  addiction  as  the 
same? 

Switzerland  is  now  doing  jusl 
that.  The  Swiss  have  a  program 
in  place  thai  will  supply  (for  vir- 
tually no  money)  hard  drugs  to 
addicts  who  come  to  the  ap- 
proved clinics  for  their  *4fixesJ" 
The  Swiss  are  still  coming  down 
hard  on  the  street  sellers,  but 
those  street  sellers  will  no  doubt 
soon  disappear  because  of  the 
practically  free  alternative.  The 
addicts  themselves  are  of  course 
happy  with  the  idea,  but  also  say 
that  they're  striving  to  get  ofTof 
drugs  because  it's  no  longer 
"fun11 — the  daring  and  "cool- 
ness" is  gone.  And  that's  exactly 
what  the  Swiss  authorities  want, 
to  make  drugs  "uncooL"  The 
Swiss  are  handling  drug  addic- 
tion as  a  treatable  vice,  not  a 
crime.  Selling  drugs  is  a  differ- 
ent story,  but  using  them  is 
looked  at  as  a  human  weakness, 
not  a  criminal  act.  The  victims 
are  the  users  themselves  Just  as 
with  any  other  vice. 

Oh  sure,  there  are  innocent 
victims  associated  with  vices, 
too — the  innocent  parties  that 
can  be  killed  when  an  alcoholic 
is  driving  drunk,  the  family 
members  of  an  addicted  gam- 
bler who  can 't  afford  to  put  food 
on  the  table,  even  those  who 
suffer  the  effects  of  second-hand 
smoke  from  cigar  and  ciearctte 
smokers,  but  these  victims  are 
not  the  direct  targets  of  the 
vice — the  fallout  they  suffer  is 
primarily  unintended.  In  a 
crime,  the  victim  is  the  object 
of  the  crime;  in  a  vice,  any  sec- 
ond or  third  party  victimization 
is  accidental,  thai  is  to  say, 
they're  not  the  target  of  the  ac- 
tion. A  vice  is  perpetrated  on 
oneself.  It's  time  that  our  gov- 
ernment faced  that  fact  in  its 
i+War  on  Drugs," 


And  jusl  look  at  what  our  po- 
litically-inspired drug  war  has 
done  to  countries  like  Mexico 
and  Colombia!  The  huge  drug 
profits  our  government  has 
made  possible  has  poisoned  the 
politics  and  economies  of  many 
Caribbean  countries,  as  well  as 
high  officials  in  American  agen- 
cies. If  you  think  I'm  exagger- 
ating even  a  little,  please  read 
the  well-researched  hook  I  rec- 
ommended,  Drug  Crazy  ,,. 
Wavne. 


Frank  Kumph  KD4DZ1. 

There  was  a  woman  in  the  local 
paper  who  had  AIDS,  She  was 
in  the  paper  about  a  year  ago. 
too,  I  called  her  and  offered  lo 
give  her  my  Bioelecirifier™, 
She  asked  for  the  information 
first,  so  J  sent  it  to  her.  It's  been 
a  month  now  and  I  haven't  heard 
from  her.  If  I  had  an  incurable 
disease  1  would  try  anything  that 
came  along,  I  don't  understand 
people  like  her  who  are  waiting 
for  a  miracle  cure  that  may 
never  come,  In  the  meantime 
she  is  taking  a  diet  of  pills  just 
to  live.  A  year  ago  I  offered  it  to 
the  local  AIDS  group  and  never 
heard  any  more. 

Frank,  now  you  know  how 
frustrated  I  feel!  Between  the 
Bioelectrifier  jar  emergencies 
and  a  change  of  diet,  I'm  now- 
convinced  that  anv  illness  can 
be  overcome  —  as  I  explain  in 
mr  Secret  Guide  to  Health  ,.. 
me. 


The  New  Machine! 

When  Les  Earnshaw  demon - 
strafed  the  new  Kachina  at  Dav- 
ton>  you  can   bet   that  the 

competition  was  all  eyest  ears, 
and  cameras.  Well,  this  is  the 
first  really  new  development  in 
hum  2ear  in  about  30  vears  — 
since  the  advent  of  sideband. 
solid  state,  and  synthesized  tun- 
ing. How  long  will  it  fake  before 
we  see  Japanese  copies? 

What  I  *d  like  to  get  is  some 

letters  from  Kachina  users  — 

from  the  kind  of  hams  who  are 

the  first  to  try  new  technologies 

while  evervone  else  waits.  How 


totally  has  our  public  school 
system  killed  the  pioneering 
spirit  which  got  our  country 
started  just  over  a  couple  hun- 
t/red years  ago? 

How  about  it,  guys?  Are  you 
having  a  hall  with  your 
Kachina?  Tell  us  about  it!  Lets 
see  some  letters. 

For  that  matter  I  *d  love  to  see 
letters  from  any  of  you  who  are 
trying  new  stuff.  Are  you  having 
a  ball  with  slow  scan,  packet, 
RTTYl  or  what?  Help  me  to  get 
others  out  of  their  ruts  and  en- 
joying the  excitement  amateur 
radio  has  to  offer!  ,..  Wayne. 


D.  Smith,  Sr. 
WD4KMP.  The  "QRPcanuf  of 
James  Fisher  (73,  December 
1  ^98)  is  a  great  idea,  but,  as  he 
said,  acts  as  a  high-pass  filter 
and  will  not  attenuate  harmon- 
ics. There  is  a  simple  and  easy 
solution:  Add  a  variable  capaci- 
tor in  parallel  with  the  shunt 
inductor. 

This  is  mentioned  in  Joseph 
Carr*s  Practical  Antenna  Hand- 
hook  of  1994,  on  page  401  (il- 
lustration 19-7). 

I  know  that  many  people  will 
build  and  enjoy  this  easy-to- 
make  circuit,  They'll  enjoy  it  even 
more  when  this  simple  modifica- 
tion gets  rid  ofthc  harmonies  (and 
FCC  pink  slips! ). 


ARTICLE  HUNT 

We  are  paying  cash  for 
articles  on  YOUR 

•  Antennas 

•  Home-brew  projects 

•  Operating  experiences 

•  Product  reviews 
(ask  us  first) 

Call  Joyce  at  603-924- 
0058  and  ask  for  "How  to 
Write  for  21"! 


Back  Issues 

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800-274-7373 


6  73  Amateur  Radio  Today  •  March  1999 


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Number  $  on  your  Feedback  card 


Cutbacks  in  Connecticut 


The  ARRL  is  cutting  back  the  size  of  QST 
Magazine  as  amateur  radios  dwindling  numbers 
take  their  toll,  according  to  a  message  to  Sec- 
tion Managers  from  League  Field  Services  Man- 
ager Rick  Palm  K1CE,  Several  areas  of  the 
magazine  will  be  cut  bach;  the  space  allotted  for 
Section  News  will  be  reduced  by  15%. 

PalnVs  message  paints  a  grim  picture  for  ama- 
teur radio  as  it  faces  the  next  century.  Palm  said 
the  annual  number  of  new  licensees  has  dropped 
dramatically  over  the  past  two  or  three  years,  As 
a  result,  overall  VEC  exam  activity  is  down  about 
25%  from  last  year,  and  there  are  other  signs  of 
the  decline,  including  the  bitter  economic  condi- 
tions amateur  radio  equipment  dealers  face,  as 
evidenced  by  the  many  businesses  that  have 
closed  during  the  past  three  years. 

Since  March  1997,  Palm  says  that  the  ARRL 
has  seen  its  overall  membership  numbers  fall  by 
more  than  14,000  or  about  8%.  He  says  the  rea- 
sons for  this  drop  are  varied,  and  include  the  tra- 
ditionai  reaction  to  a  dues  increase  But  more 
challenging  to  amateur  radio's  future  are  strong 
indications  that  Technician  class  licensees  are 
not  finding  much  to  keep  them  interested  in 
amateur  radio  or  to  compel  them  to  be  members. 

Two  years  ago.  Palm  says,  hams  were  joining 
the  League  in  large  numbers  in  response  to  spec- 
trum threats.  But  a  year  later,  almost  50%  have 
not  renewed.  Palm  says  there  could  be  several 
reasons— a  combination  of  the  last  dues  in- 
crease, the  perception  that  the  threats  to  the 
spectrum  have  abated,  a  lack  of  interest  by 
hams  in  what  the  ARRL  is  offering — or  just  simply 
defections  from  amateur  radio. 

But  Palm  does  leave  the  Section  Managers 
with  an  optimistic  note,  He  says  that  once  the 
uncertainty  surrounding  FCC  license  restructur- 
ing is  past,  the  situation  should  improve.  In  the 
meantime,  though,  the  ARRL  has  to  take  action 
in  the  wake  of  falling  numbers. 

Austerity  moves  include  the  cancellation  of  the 
long-running  VHF  and  UHF  Spring  Spnnts,  These 
mini-contests  are  traditionally  held  during  April 
and  May.  ARRL  contest  branch  manager  Dan 
Henderson  N1ND  cites  a  lack  of  participation  for 
the  cha nge.  He  says  that  in  1 998  only  200  people 
submitted  logs  and  those  submitted  were  spread 
across  the  seven  frequency  bands  covered  by 
the  Sprints  With  so  few  people  taking  part,  the 
sprints  are  just  too  expensive  to  subsidize  in 
these  tight  economic  times. 

And  in  another  cost-cutting  move,  the  ARRL 
has  merged  its  Field  Services  and  Educational 
Activities  departments.  The  new  Field  and  Edu- 
cational Services  Department  came  into  exist- 
ence on  January  4th.  The  new  department  brings 

8   73  Amateur  Radto  Today  •  March  1999 


together  staff  members  wrth  a  similar  mission: 
the  support  of  ARRL  volunteers  who,  in  turn,  pro- 
mote ham  radio  on  a  local  and  regional  level. 

Like  the  decision  to  abandon  the  VHF  and  UHF 
Sprints,  this  move  also  was  designed  to  reduce 
expenses  in  the  face  of  a  decline  in  both  ARRL 
membership  and  overall  amateur  radio  licensing 
and  activity  over  the  past  few  years.  Former  Edu- 
cational Activities  department  manager  Rosalie 
White  WA1STO  has  assumed  the  title  of  Educa- 
tional Services  Manager  She  will  oversee  day- 
to-day  operation  of  the  new  department  and  will 
continue  as  the  primary  staff  contact  for  ama- 
teur radio  in  space  issues. 

From  ARRL  via  Newslinel  Bill  Pasternak 
WA6ITR  editor. 


Hams  Respond  As  Killer 
Tornadoes  Rake  South 


Hams  in  Tennessee  and  Arkansas  responded 
as  unusual  tornadoes  threatened,  then  struck, 
in  January.  A  call  went  out  January  22nd  for  ad- 
ditional ham  radio  volunteers  to  assist  emergency 
operations  in  Tennessee  in  the  storms"  wake, 

Tornadoes  in  the  Jackson,  Tennessee,  area 
January  17th  killed  eight  people.  Another  eight 
died  when  tornadoes  struck  in  the  vicinity  of  Little 
Rock  and  White  County,  Arkansas,  January  21st. 
The  National  Weather  Service  called  It  Han  un- 
precedented outbreak  of  tornadoes  for  January/' 

Arkansas  Section  Manager  Roger  Gray  N5QS, 
in  Searcy,  reported  that  he  was  up  all  night  and 
observed  four  or  five  funnel  clouds,  but  he  esti- 
mated that  at  least  30  tornadoes  swept  through 
the  area.  Gray  has  been  actively  managing  the 
ARES  operation.  We  have  had  an  incredible  re- 
sponse from  the  amateur  community/1  he  said, 
He  estimated  that  up  to  60  hams  were  active  on 
VHF  and  HF  nets.  Amateur  radio  filled  the  gap 
as  long-distance  telephone  circuits  have  became 
overloaded. 

"Another  wild  night  in  Arkansas,"  said  ARRL 
Vice  President  Joel  Harrison  W5ZNt  in  Judsonfa, 
who  reported  lots  of  damage'1  in  his  area,  "I  have 
to  tell  you,  in  my  41  years  of  living  here  I  have 
never  seen  storms  like  we  had  last  night,"  he  said 
the  following  day.  Harrison  said  the  first  line  came 
through  around  5  p.m..  "then  another,  and  an- 
other, and  another  for  what  seemed  like  every 
half  hour  till  about  10:30  p.m. 

"The  damage  m  a  10-mife  radius  around  my 
home  is  horrible,"  Harrison  said.  Arkansas  State 
University  in  Beebe— where  his  son,  Mark,  at- 
tends school— had  extensive  damage.  "There  is 
considerable  damage  in  Little  Rock,  even  to  the 
governor's  mansion."  he  added. 


Mark  Harrison  KC5YNE  said  most  of  the  town 
of  Beebe  was  damaged  or  destroyed,  and  eight 
tornadoes  hit  White  County  alone,  He  reported 
that  the  family  had  spent  an  anxious  night.  It 
was  a  relief  when  the  storms  finally  quit,  and 
everything  was  fine  here,"  he  said. 

Meanwhile.  Delta  Division  Vice  Director  Henry 
Leggette  WD4Q.  in  Memphis,  Tennessee,  re- 
ported considerable  ham  radio  activity  in  the 
Jackson  area,  as  well  as  in  Clarftsville,  where 
twisters  struck  early  on  the  morning  of  January 
21  st.  Leggette  said  he  planned  to  visit  the  Jackson 
area  over  the  weekend  to  assist 

Tennessee  SEC  Jim  Jarvis  WD4JJ.  in  Bristol, 
relayed  a  request  for  amateurs  with  mobile  units 
to  assist  at  the  C larks vi lie/Montgomery  County 
Emergency  Operations  Center.  Hams  willing  to 
volunteer  may  contact  the  EOC  directly  on  the 
147,39  MHz  repeater,  he  said.  "The  police  de- 
partment and  city  hall  have  been  completely 
demolished,  and  the  downtown  area  is  a  complete 
wreck/'  Jarvis  also  reported  damage  in  Humphreys 
County,  as  well  as  in  McEwen,  Waverly,  and 
Camden  counties.  He  estimated  that  up  to  three 
dozen  hams  were  active  in  providing  emergency 
communication  in  the  Clarksvilte/Montgomery 
County  area. 

In  the  aftermath  of  the  earlier  storms,  Jarvis 
reports  that  EC  Kenny  Johns  AB4EG,  in  Jack- 
son, was  rounding  up  volunteer  to  assist  the  Red 
Cross  with  damage  assessment  in  the  seven 
counties  hit  in  mid-month,  Johns  said  a  SKY- 
WARN  net  was  activated  Sunday.  January  17th. 
but  the  tornadoes  were  unexpected.  After  the 
storms  struck,  more  than  two  dozen  ARES  mem- 
bers handled  health-and-welfare  traffic  at  the 
EOC  for  22  hours. 

From  the  ARRL.  via  the  February  1999  issue  of 
Radio  Flyer,  UBETARC  newsletter,  Dennis  Hardy 
KC7MCR  and  Mike  Bignell  KC7SWH,  co-editors. 


California  Ham 
Instrumental  in  Arrest  of 
Dangerous  Road  Rage 
Suspect 


A  member  of  a  California  ham  family  was  indis- 
pensable in  helping  police  to  arrest  an  angry  mo- 
tonst  who  had  senously  injured  another  motorist 
after  being  cut  off  on  the  freeway  last  December, 

According  to  an  account  in  The  Orange  County 
Register,  the  irate  motorist  followed  the  other 
driver  for  miles  before  confronting  him  on  a  busy 
city  street,  He  allegedly  shoved  his  victim  under 
an  accelerating  big  rig  tractor-trailer  and  then 
kicked  him  even  after  he  had  been  run  over. 

The  account  says  that  the  furious  driver  and 
his  two  co-workers  drove  off.  They  were  caught 
later  in  the  morning  when  Ed  Greany  KB6DQL 
of  Corona,  heard  a  broadcast  description  of  the 
vehicle  and  then  saw  the  men  pass  by.  He  noti- 
fied police  via  ham  radio,  They  arrested  Richard 

Continued  on  pctge  40 


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Number  10  on  your  Feedback  card 


The  Pluck  of  the  Irish 

Was  Wee  Mac  a  leprechaun  or  a  pirate — or  both? 


Guy  Slaughter  K9AZG 

753  W+  Elizabeth  Drive 

Crown  Point  IN  46307 


ever  work  a  leprechaun.  If  you 
hear  one  on  frequency,  QSY. 
If    he's    calling    you,    QRT. 
Quickly! 

I  wish  someone  had  told  me  that  be- 
fore  I  got  involved  with  Wee  Mac-  It 
could  have  saved  me  a  lot  of  grief. 

So,  you  ask,  how  can  you  tell  a  lep- 
rechaun when  you  hear  one?  Rule  of 
i h umb:  Shun  all  falsetto-voiced  phone 
ops  with  AC  hum  on  their  signals,  and 
avoid  all  funny-fisted  CW  guys  with 
rough  and  chowpy  notes. 

It's  not  only  leprechauns,  of  course, 
who  sound  like  that,  but  abstention 
from  contacts  with  all  such  ops  is  the 
safe  way  to  go,  Besides,  it'll  make  our 
bands  betier,  See,  if  we  boycott  non- 
leprechaun  lids  because  they  sound 
like  leprechauns,  we'll  motivate  them  to 
force  their  voice  registers  downhill,  to 
improve  their  CW,  to  clean  up  their  sig- 
nals, and  thus  to  upgrade  into  non-lids. 

Leprechauns,  however,  can't  do  this. 
Their  vocal  cords  are  too  teensy  to  vi- 
brate in  human-voice  ranges,  their  fingers 
are  too  dinky  for  our  keying  devices,  and 
they  can't  prevent  their  magnetic-flux 
auras  from  hum-modulating  RF. 

What   the    little    buggers    can    do, 
though,  is  give  you  trouble.  Let  me  tell 
you  about  mine. 
10   73  Amateur  Radio  Today  •  March  1999 


I  was  on  20  CW  when  I  heard  this 
rough  and  chowpy  signal  calling  me  as 
I  was  wrapping  up  a  QSO  with  a  DL2. 
It  signed  an  EI  calk  1  was  tempted  to 
ignore  it,  intending  to  shut  down  the 
rig  in  favor  of  a  trip  to  the  bathroom. 
Instead,  I  came  back  to  the  caller, 
thanked  him  for  the  shout,  and  gave 
him  a  597C  report.  That  was  a  tragic 
mistake, 

"RR  Guy  in  Indiana/ur  589  589  in 
Dublin  Dublin/nyme  is  Mac  Mac/why 
the  T7C?  AR  BK"  the  El  said, 
chowping  along  at  around  25  words  per 
with  a  really  rotten  fist  and  a  terrible 
AC  growl  on  his  note. 

''BK  sri  Mac  fer  the  bum  rpt"  I  told 
him,  "I  thot  ud  want  to  knw  ur  loud  sig 
is  a  lil  ruff  and  chirpy  here.  BK." 

"Ur  revr  always  block  on  strong 
sigs?" 

"No  no  no/rcvr  not  blocking/other 
strong  sigs  snd  FB.  BK." 

"In  ur  nose  with  a  ruddy  hose/AK 
SK,"  says  the  EI,  and  he's  gone. 

i  mentally  tagged  the  guy  a  sore- 
head, punched  the  QSO  data  into  the 
log,  hit  the  big  switch,  and  headed  for 
the  bathroom,  wondering  why  I  was 
suddenly  sneezing  so  hard  that  my 
nose  began  to  bleed. 


Two  hours  later,  with  my  nosebleed 
finally  stopped,  I  heard  the  El  on 
again.  This  time  his  note  was  clean  and 
chirpless,  1  gave  him  a  589X  when  he 
acknowledged  my  call,  adding,  "Ur  sig 
DC  Mac/no  sign  of  chirp/note  clean 
and  pure/K," 

"TU  fer  rept,"  says  the  EL  "Name  is 
Jigger  Jigger  in  Dublin  Dublin/why 
the  big  deal  on  the  DC  sig?  BK." 

"Thot  op  was  Mac,"  1  say.  "This  a 
club  station?  BK." 

"No  no  no/personal  station  in  my 
home/op  is  Jigger  J  igger/pse  who  Mac?" 

"Beats  me,"  I  say.  "QSO'd  your  call 
earlier  today/note  was  chirpy  es  buzzy/ 
op  with  funny  fist  sed  his  name  Mac.'1 

"Was  not  me,"  says  the  EI.  "Been 
getting  QSLs  for  QSOs  not  in  log/cards 
say  TU  Mac/spose  I  have  pirate?" 

"Bet  on  it,"  I  say,  "Too  bad/GL  es 
hpe  CU  agn/DX  es  gud  rpts/73  AR 
SK+" 

And  that  was  that,  right?  Wrong. 

The  next  day,  1  was  wrapping  up 
with  an  HB9  on  15  sideband  when  T 
heard  a  high-pitched  voice  calling  me 
in  a  thick  Irish  brogue.  He  had  a  ter- 
rible  AC  growl  on  his  signal.  He 
signed  that  same  EI  call. 

"Hi,  Jigger,"  I  said,  coming  back  to 
him.  "Pm  glad  to  see  you  again  so 


itl 


a 


soon.  You're  five-by-nine  with  AC 
hum  in  Indiana.  Name's  Guy,  golf  uni- 
form yankee.  We've  worked  before  on 
CW.  You  find  your  pirate  yet?  Go/* 

"Me  nyme  is  Mac,"  the  EI  warbles, 
his  voice  a  good  octave  above  high  C. 
"Poirate,  indade.  Air  ye  say  in*  Oi've 
got  me  a  poirate  nyme  o'  Jigger 
workin'  me  stay  shun  when  Oi'm  not 
aboot?" 

Maybe  yes,  maybe  no,"  I  tell  him. 
An  op  named  Jigger  signing  the  same 
call  said  he's  got  a  pirate  named  Mac. 
Could  you  be  it?" 

"In  yer  oye  with  a  monster  stay,"  my 
contact  says,  falsetto  voice,  the  hum 
modulation  making  his  words  doubly 
harsh.  "Over  ?n?  out,  me  smarMnouthin' 
bucko/' 

And  even  while  I  observed  the 
amenities  by  mumbling  my  best  73 
and  wishing  Mac  a  nice  weekend  any- 
way, my  vision  started  to  blur,  my  left 
eyelid  began  to  swell,  and  the  pain 
came.  Though  I  had  never  had  a  sty  be- 
fore in  my  life,  I  was  growing  a  beauty 
now.  In  minutes,  my  lower  lid  swelled 
up  so  big  I  had  to  stand  on  tiptoe  to  see 
over  it 

The  cure  cost  me  60  bucks  and  a 
couple  of  sleepless  nights.  The  doctor, 
to  whom  I  didn't  mention  Mac,  said  it 
was  an  infection  of  a  sebaceous  gland, 
not  uncommon  in  a  polluted  world.  He 
seemed  surprised  at  my  questions,  and 
declined  to  attribute  my  eyelid  problem 
to  a  hex,  a  voodoo,  a  hoodoo,  or  self-in- 
duced psychosomatic  auto-hypnotic 
anxiety. 

It  was  a  month  later,  the  day  before 
St-  Patrick's  Day,  when  I  ran  across  the 
EI  again  on  15  sideband.  He  was  chat- 
ting with  a  Wl.  His  voice  was  bari- 
tone, his  modulation  crisp  and  clean.  I 
waited  for  him  to  clear,  and  gave  him  a 
shout.  It  was  Jigger.  He  didn't  remember 
me  until  I  asked  him  if  he  still  suspected 
he  had  a  pirate. 

"Not  suspected/'  he  said.  "Had  me 
one.  Caught  'im  in  the  bleedin'  shack. 
Over" 

"In  your  shack?"  I  asked.  "Not  only 
using  your  call,  but  actually  working 
your  rig?" 

Affirmative/'  Jigger  said.  tcRepeatedly, 

Continued  on  page  12 


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73  Amateur  Radio  Today  *  March  1999    11 


]  kept  comirf  'ome  from  the  office  to  find 


Mm  "ere/" 


"That's  incredible,"  I  said. 
"Agreed,"    said    Jigger,    "But    I'm 
pretty  sure  I  got  rid  of  Mm  fer  good, 

"You  had  him  arrested?" 

"Who  can  arrest  a  wee  one?" 

"A  wee  one?  He  was  a  kid?  A 
midget?" 

"Negative.  Nayther  a  young  one 
near  a  small  one.  A  wee  one." 

"You  mean  like  a  goblin?  An  elf/  A 
gnome?" 

"A  leprechaun,"  Jigger  said.  "Wee 
Mac's  a  bleedirf  leprechaun.  It's  been 
nice.  Hope  to  see  you  again,  old  man. 
Seven-three,"  And  he  was  gone. 

That,  as  I  said,  was  the  afternoon  be- 
fore St.  Patrick's  Day,  I  wrote  a  little 
note  in  my  log  questioning  the  mental 
condition  of  the  EI  who  figured  he'd 
gotten  rid  of  the  leprechaun  he  imag- 
ined had  taken  over  his  shack,  and 
went  upstairs  to  dinner. 

When  I  came  home  from  work  the 
next  day,  1  noticed  the  tribander  was 
pointing  south.  1  usually  leave  it  aimed 
northeast  so  the  elements  are  end-on  to 
the  prevailing  wind  I  must  have 
goofed,  I  figured.  My  wife  was  setting 
the  table  in  the  kitchen.  She  looked 
startled  when  I  came  in. 

'vl  thought  you  were  in  the  base- 
ment," she  said. 

"Nuh  uh,"  I  said  brightly.  "I'm  right 
here.  How  was  school?" 

"Okay,  1  just  got  home,  myself.  1 
thought  I  heard  you  in  the  shack. r 

"Premature  deja  vu"  I  told  her. 
"You're  about  to,  I  need  to  swing  the 
beam  around." 

My  shack  is  at  the  far  end  of  the 
basement  from  the  kitchen  stairway.  I 
leave  its  door  open  for  heat  circulation. 
Now  it  was  closed,  I  could  see  a  crack 
of  light  beneath  it.  I  could  hear  the 
bleeping  of  my  transceiver's  CW 
sidetone,  its  note  strangely  rough  and 
chirpy  Curiosity  and  anger  tumbled 
through  rnc  in  waves.  Surely  Jigger's 
pirate  wouldn't  have  the  gall ... 

I  flung  open  the  door.  The  sidetone 
halted  in  mid-chirp,  I  caught  a  glimpse 
of  a  doll-sized  figure  standing  on  my 
chair,  leaning  across  the  operating 
Table  to  grasp  the  keyer  paddle  on  its 
far  edge.  Then  the  apparition  was 
12    73  Amateur  Radio  Today  ■  March  1999 


gone,  For  an  instant  I  doubted  my  own 
senses.  The  station  speaker  came  to 
life,  emitting  a  "QRZ?"  in  CW  fol- 
lowed by,  "Sri  OM/lost  U/SK  " 

"Hey,"  I  said,  snapping  off  the 
station's  master  power  switch  and 
peering  around  the  shack.  "Where 'd 
yon  go.; 

"Orm  roight  'ere,"  a  familiar,  high- 
pitched  voice  said  from  behind  me.  I 
turned  to  see  a  skinny,  leggy  little  fig- 
ure sitting  atop  the  file  cabinet  along 
the  rear  wall  of  the  room.  It  was 
dressed  all  in  green,  from  the  pointed 
leather  slipper  to  the  diminutive  derby. 
The  eyes  were  glaring  at  me.  The  fa- 
cial features  wrere  those  of  a  mean  old 
man. 

utYe  startled  me  nairlv  outta  me 
shoes,"  the  figure  said,  "Ye'd  be  Goy, 
roight?'7 

"And  yoif  ve  got  to  be  Wee  Mac,"  I 
acknowledged,  mentally  apologizing 
to  an  El  named  Jigger  for  having 
thought  him  demented.  "What  the  hell 
are  you  doing  here?" 

yTlyin'  me  *obby,"  Wee  Mac  said. 
"Workin'mcrig." 

"Your  rig?" 

"Our  rig,  if  ye  prefer,"  the  little  man 
grinned.  "Oi'm  willing  to  share," 

1  reached  for  the  creature.  He  disap- 
peared. 1  peered  around  the  shack,  un- 
der the  table,  behind  the  computer. 
Nothing, 

"I  wouldn't  be  do  in*  that  agin,"  the 
falsetto  voice  said  from  behind  me. 
"Next  toime  ye  try  to  grab  me,  bucko, 
it'll  be  loights  out  fer  ye,"  My  zulu 
clock  rose  from  the  operating  table, 
Hew  toward  my  head,  missed  me  by 
an  inch,  and  smashed  against  the  wall 
behind  me. 

"Cut  that  out!"  I  yelled.  "You  can't 
come  in  here  and  take  over  my  shack 
and  tear  up  my  gear!" 

"Who  says?" 

"When  1  get  my  hands  on  you  ..." 

"Ye  get  no  pot  o*  gold,"  the  high 
voice  interrupted  from  another  part  of 
the  room.  "That's  blarney*  An'  ye 
couldn't  be  a  hangin'  on  if  ye  did  catch 
ahold  o'  me," 

My  DXCC  certificate  flew  off  the 
wall  beside  the  doorwav  and  sailed  to- 
ward  me,  its  frame  and  glass  smashing 
as  it  hit  the  floor. 


"i 


'Hey,"  I  said  in  anguish.  "Please 
don't  tear  up  the  shack  any  more!" 

"Oi'll  do  ve  a  deaf"  said  the  voice 
from  behind  me,  1  turned  to  see  the 
little  man  seated  in  my  chair  at  the  op- 
erating table.  His  head  came  just  to 
tabletop  height.  "Ye  leave  me  to  work 
the  rig  in  payee  'til  midnight  alone  and 
unbothered,  and  Oi'll  be  outta  here," 

I  said,  LT  must  be  losing  my  mind.  I 
can't  really  be  haggling  with  a  ,..  with 
a  leprechaun  over  use  of  my  own 
equipment!" 

"Sure,  ye  can,1*  said  the  leprechaun. 
"How  'bout  it,  me  bucko.  A  deal?" 

I  sighed.  "A  deal.  I  leave  now.  You 
leave  at  midnight.  And  you  don't  come 
back.  Right?" 

"Roight  Not  'til  next  S'n'  Paddy's 
anywoys,"  said  Wee  Mac. 

1  left  him  there,  shut  the  door  behind 
me,  and  made  my  way  upstairs.  He 
was  gone  when  I  checked  next  morn- 
ing. And  after  a  couple  of  days,  I  began 
to  believe  1  dreamed  the  whole  thing. 

Then  came  the  notice  from  the  FCC 
inviting  me  to  explain  why  my  ticket 
shouldn't  be  lifted  for  transgressions 
committed  on  March  I  7  last  that  in- 
cluded but  were  not  necessarily  lim- 
ited to:  (1)  operating  in  that  portion  of 
the  20-meter  CW  band  prohibited  to 
General-class  licensees;  (2)  generating 
keyed  continuous-wave  signals  ille- 
gally broadened  and  distorted  by  alter- 
nating-current modulation  and/or  lack 
of  proper  power-supply  filtering;  (3) 
using  profane  and  obscene  language  in 
violation  of  good  taste,  international 
treaty,  and  domestic  law;  and  (4)  mali- 
ciously interfering  with  other  commu- 
nications by  emitting  a  hum-modulated, 
continuous-wave  band  signal  on 
14,017,016  hertz  for  at  least  1 17  con- 
secutive seconds,  presumably  while 
tuning  up. 

"Oh,  Lord;1  1  told  myself.  "Wee 
Mac's  not  only  cost  me  my  license,  but 
my  finals  to  boot." 

He  hadn't,  as  il  turned  out.  I  talked 
my  way  out  of  the  FCC  jam,  blaming  it 
on  a  shack-invading  leprechaun.  (The 
harricd-looking  hearing  officer,  obvi- 
ously anxious  to  get  this  over  with  and 
go  home,  said  there  was  a  lot  of  that 
going  around,  initialed  a  forgiveness 
form,   and   sent  me  away   to   sin  no 


more.)  And  thank  heaven  the  6146s  are 
tough  little  bottles.  So  for  a  long  time, 
I  thought  it  was  all  behind  me.  But 
then  came  the  next  St.  Patrick's  Day. 
And  back  was  Wee  Mac. 

I  knew  he  was  there  when  I  turned 
into  my  driveway  after  work  and  saw 
that  the  beam  was  pointed  south, 

I  made  a  lot  of  noise  on  my  way 
downstairs  so  I  wouldn't  startle  him 
again.  He  was  working  sideband  when 
I  walked  into  the  shack, 

"Hi,"  I  said.  "I  thought  we  had  a  deal." 

The  little  green  man  held  up  a  hand 
to  silence  me.  He  was  standing  on  the 
seat  of  my  swivel  chair.  His  waist  was 
level  with  the  operating  table  in  front 
of  him.  He  bent  forward  as  the  speaker 
went  quiet,  placed  his  left  palm  on  the 
push-to-talk  bar  in  the  base  of  the 
mike,  and  leaned  on  it, 

"A  foine  S'n'  Paddy's  Day  to  ye  as 
well,"  he  said  into  the  mike,  signed  my 
call,  released  the  PIT  switch,  and 
swung  around  to  face  me. 

"How  come  you're  back?"  I  de- 
manded, 

"Oi  loike  yer  setup/'  he  said.  toTis 
one  o'  the  few  shacks  Oi  work  where 
Oi  can  raych  everythin'  without 
strainin*  meself." 

"How  about  Jigger's  station?  Don't 
you  use  it  anymore?" 

"Not  after  he  started  kaypin*  a  snike 
in  it,"  the  little  man  said,  "Can  ye 
imagine  any  self-respectin?  Oirishman 
kaypin'  a  snike  in  his  digs?" 

"Sure  I  can,"  I  said,  remembering 
Jigger's  comment  that  he'd  gotten  rid 
of  his  visiting  pirate  for  good.  "And  a 
self-respecting  third-generation  Dutch- 
man like  me,  as  well.  I've  got  a  pet 
snake  of  my  own  upstairs,  and  I'll  be 
moving  it  down  here  directly." 

"Ye  wouldn't!"  Wee  Mac  said,  and 
disappeared. 

I  haven't  seen  him  since.  I  lied,  of 
course.  I'm  no  fonder  of  snakes  than 
St*  Patrick  himself,  but  I  want  Wee  Mac 
to  think  I've  got  a  great  big  nasty  serpent 
living  beside  my  rig.  Til  find  out  if  he 
believes  it  come  this  March  the  17th. 

Meanwhile,  if  you  hear  an  operator 
with  a  high-pitched  voice  or  a  funny  fist 
with  a  hum  on  his  signal  or  a  chirp  in  his 
note,  don't  come  back  to  him.  It  could  be 
just  another  lid,  but  it  might  be  a  lepre- 
chaun. And  who  needs  either  one? 


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73  Amateur  Radio  Today  *  March  t999    13 


Number  14  on  your  Feedback  c&rd 


i 


Transmitting  Ferrite  Loop 

for  80/1 60 

Thirty  years  of  experimenting  ...  now  it's  your  turn! 


Richard  Q.  M arris  G 

35  Kingwood  House 

Farnham  Road 

Slough  SL2  1DA 

England  UK 


Little  has  been  published  in  the 
amateur  radio  press  on  the  sub- 
ject  of  ferrite  rod  transmitting 

loop  antennas.  I  have  been  experi- 
menting with  these,  off  and  on,  for 
around  30  years. 

Here  we  will  look  at  some  earlier 
background  problems,  frustrations, 
and  pil falls  first,  and  then  get  into  a 
practical  80/160  m  design.  It  is  my 
hope  that  other  amateurs  will  also  ex- 
periment along  similar  lines  to  pro- 
duce even  better  loops,  and  get  some 
real  "on  air"  activity  going.  This 
should  more  rapidly  increase  the  rate 


50  Q 

r^h 

L2 

EEEEEEEE 

LI 

CI 

Fig,  tm  The  conventional  ferrite  loop,  OK 

"on  receive"  only. 

14   73  Amateur  Radio  Today  •   March  1999 


of  practical  design  progress,  in  a  field 
which  heretofore  seems  to  have  been 
mostly  limited  to  defense  development 
and  a  fewr  commercial  activities. 

It  was  way  back  around  1960  when  1 
first  became  interested  in  the  workings 
of  the  ferrite  rod  loop  or  loopstick.  At 
that  time,  the  usual  assembly  was  an 
eight-inch-long  by  three-eighths-inch- 
diameter  ferrite  rod,  built  into  a  broad- 
east  receiver  operating  on  the  medium 
wave  band  (and  long  wave  in  Europe). 

1  first  wound  a  coupling  coil  onto  a 
ferrite  loop  antenna  to  enable  it  to  be 
used  as  an  external  antenna  coupled  To 
the  receiver  with  coaxial  feedline,  as  in 
Fig,  I,  This  is  now  accepted  practice, 

The  next  move  was  to  reduce  the 
number  of  wire  turns  so  that  the  loop 
resonated  in  the  160  and  80  meter 
bands.  The  results  were  encouraging, 
although  progress  was  slowr. 

It  seemed  logical  that,  using  the  Fig, 
1  circuit,  the  process  could  be  re- 
versed— that  is,  RF  fed  into  the  cou- 
pling coil  via  the  coaxial  feedline — to 
produce  a  transmitting  loop  antenna. 
My  first  results  were  somewhat  en- 
couraging, but  initial  efficiency  was 
very  low. 


I  approached  a  ferrite  rod  manufac- 
turer and  asked  for  a  quotation  for  a 
quantity  of  six  pieces  of  every  eight- 
inch  rod  of  all  available  materials,  to- 
gether with  materials  specifications. 
The  result  was  a  quotation  for  a  mini- 
mum order  of  5000  pieces  in  two  types 
of  materials — nickel-zinc  and  magne- 
sium-zinc. Not  very  helpful! 

Later,  1  inquired  as  to  whether  they 
had  any  information/experience  on  the 
subject  of  using  ferrite  rod  loops  for 
transmission  purposes,  or  knew  where 
such  information  might  be  obtained. 
The  reply  was  ambiguous  (neither  yes 
nor  no).  In  effect,  they  said  they  were 
not  prepared  to  discuss  the  subject.  I 
took  this  to  indicate  that  such  work 
was  indeed  being  undertaken,  but  they 
could  not  or  would  not  talk  about  it. 

This  only  increased  my  determina- 
tion to  carry  on  experimenting  with 
ferrite  TX  loops,  with  only  limited  fa- 
cilities, and  without  any  help  or  advice 
from  rod  manufacturers. 

Gradually  I  gained  experience  by  trial- 
and-error  methods,  reaching  the  con* 
elusion  that  an  effective  transmitting 
ferrite  loop  antenna  could  eventually 
be  designed  and  produced. 


In  the  early  1970s,  I  moved  to  Min- 
nesota (USA)  to  live,  work,  and  oper- 
ate (G2BZQ/W0).  There,  nickel-zinc 
ferrite  rods  were  readily  available,  as 
well  as  Type  61  material  in  half- inch- 
diameter  rods.  Now  I  was  able  to  make 
further  progress.  The  circuit  in  Fig*  2 
gradually  took  the  place  of  Fig.  1,  and 
I  was  able  to  produce  a  good  input-to- 
output  ratio  using  single  rods. 

Design  challenges  for  80  and  160 
meters 

*  Selection  of  suitable  rod  materials 
and  dimensions, 

*  Difficulty  of  matching/coupling 
the  loop  to  the  TX. 

•  Core  saturation. 

•  Producing  a  radiated  signaL 

Core  saturation 

When  RF  is  applied  to  a  TX  ferrite 
loop  antenna,  a  point  is  quickly  reached, 
as  power  is  increased,  at  which  core 
saturation  manifests  itself  This  is  ac- 
companied by  a  sudden  increase  in  core 
temperature;  a  sudden  decrease  in  radi- 
ated output  signal;  and  general  instabil- 
ity and  the  production  of  harmonics, 
especially  the  third. 

The  ferrite  rod  transmitting  loop  is 
essentially  a  low-power  device*  Fortu- 
nately, this  means  you  can  experiment 
using  small-dimension  assemblies 
along  the  lines  of  those  from  the 
modelmaking  hobby,  which  can  be 
played  with  in  the  comfort  of  your 
home,  irrespective  of  the  weather  out- 
side! The  basic  equipment  you  need  is 
a  field  strength  meter,  a  large  neon 
bulb,  and  a  portable  receiver. 

Ferrite  rod  selection 

Ferrite  rods  can  be  divided  into  two 
main  material  groups:  manganese- zinc 
and  nickel-zinc.  You  can  obtain  each  in 
various  "mixes/*  for  different  applica- 
tions. Unfortunately,  both  types  are  the 
same  in  appearance,  so  you  have  to  be 
careful  in  trying  to  identify  surplus  rods. 

Experimenting  in  the  80  and  160 
meter  bands  will  teach  you  that  a 
nickel-zinc  rod  with  an  initial  perme- 
ability of  between  about  126  ^i  and  220 
ji  will  be  the  best.  There  is  every  indi- 
cation that  this  permeability  changes 


considerably  under  TX  loop  condi- 
tions. Because  we  will  have  to  use 
commercially  available  rods,  our 
choice  will  have  to  be  restricted  to 
Amidon  Type  61  and  MMG  Type  F14 
(with  permeabilities  of  125  \i  and  220 
ji,  respectively).  Manganese-zinc  rods 
(e.g.,  Types  33  and  43)  appear  in  quan- 
tity on  the  surplus  market  at  attractive 
prices,  but  they  should  be  avoided  at 
all  costs.  They  have  an  initial  perme- 
ability of  maybe  800/850  fl  and  are 
quite  useless  for  ferrite  loops  above 
VLF  and  LF. 

Experience  also  has  taught  me  that 
antenna  gain  and  directivity  increase 
as  the  rod  diameter  and/or  the  rod 
length  is  increased.  The  maximum 
nickel-zinc  rod  diameter  is  one-half 
inch,  with  lengths  of  up  to  eight 
inches.  You  can  lengthen  rods  by  ad- 
hering two  or  more  of  them  together, 
end  to  end,  just  as  you  can  increase  the 
diameter  by  affixing  two  or  more  to- 
gether side  by  side.  The  spacing  be- 
tween wire  turns,  and  between  wire 
turns  and  the  ferrite  core,  is  critical. 

Some  practical  TX  ferrite  loop 
designs 

Over  the  years  I  have  tried  a  great 
many  permutations  of  the  ferrite  loop 
antenna  for  transmitting,  with  results 
ranging  from  quite  useless  to  quite 
encouraging. 

The  antenna  shown  in  Fig*  2  pro- 
duced some  interesting  and  unex- 
pected results*  I  experimented  with 
variations  of  this  design  in  the  1970s 
and  1980s.  The  input/output  power  ratio 
was  my  best  up  to  that  time. 

I  started  with  a  simple  seven-and- 
one-half-inch-long  by  one-half-inch- 
diameter  Type  61  rod,  which  I  later 
lengthened  to  15  inches  by  cementing 
two  of  them  end  to  end.  The  TX  power 
was  gradually  increased,  and  satura- 
tion set  in  at  about  18  watts  on  the  3.5 
MHz  band  using  CW, 

At  18  watts,  the  core  temperature  in- 
creased on  a  thermometer  bulb  ce- 
mented to  the  rod,  and  the  radiated 
output  (on  a  field  strength  meter)  sud- 
denly fell  off.  Up  to  about  1 5  watts,  no 
significant  harmonics  were  detected. 

Continued  on  page  1 6 


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73  Amateur  Radio  Today  *  March  1999    15 


Fig.  Z  An  earlier  TXferrite  loop.  Success- 
ful but  very  difficult  to  adjust  and  OSY. 


Ferrite  Transmitting  Loop  for 
80/160 

continued  from  page  15 

Then  harmonics  appeared  as  power 
was  increased. 

I  adhered  a  second  15-inch  rod 
alongside  the  first,  and  rewound  LI. 
This  significantly  increased  the  radi- 
ated signal,  and  the  saturation  point 
rose  to  about  22  watts.  As  an  exercise, 
an  electric  blower  fan  was  turned  onto 
the  Ll/rod  assembly,  and  the  satura- 
tion point  was  thus  increased  to  about 
25  watts.  In  all  cases,  tnterturn  spac- 
ing, with  spacing  between  wire  and 
core,  was  used. 

I  then  tried  it  on  the  air,  usmg  the 
regular  10/12  watt  CW  TX,  and  an  oc- 
casional QSO  was  made.  The  problem 
was  that  when  QSYing,  to  answer  a 
CQ  call,  the  loop  had  to  be  carefully 
readjusted  to  the  other  station  for 
maximum  received  signal,  and  then 
CIA  and  C1B  and  C2  carefully  read- 
justed on  transmit.  This  operation  took 
between  one   and   two   minutes,   by 


so  a 


Ll 

rrori 


L2 


\\\VV\\\\\\\\\\\V\\V\\\ 


CHASSIS 
PLATE 


which  time  the  other  station  was  well 
into  a  QSO  with  someone  else. 

However,  early  one  morning  in  Janu- 
ary 1987,  when  the  band  was  quiet,  a 
random  CQ  was  sent  at  3560  kHz  and  a 
reply  received  from  SM0COX  in 
Stockholm — an  estimated  900  miles! 
It  was  not  a  hoax,  as  he  had  often  been 
worked  regularly  on  the  normal  an- 
tenna. A  careful  check  was  made  to  en- 
sure that  the  54-inch  feedline  was  not 
accidentally  radiating.  The  only  expla- 
nation was  that  it  was  a  case  of  two 
stations  being  on  the  right  frequency  at 
the  right  time  and  on  the  right  day. 
These  results  were  never  repeated. 

Later,  I  scrapped  the  Fig,  2  circuit.  I 
used  the  rods  for  the  Fig,  3  one.  I 
wound  Ll  with  well-spaced  5  A  wire 
turns,  and  had  it  well  spaced  from  the 
core.  Ll  was  resonated  by  C 1,  and  the 
coaxial  feedline  tapped,  for  50  ohms 
impedance,  onto  air-cored  L2,  This 
could  perhaps  be  described  as  a  helical 
hairpin  matching. 

This  TX  ferrite  loop  was  much  more 
docile  than  the  previous  one  (Fig,  2), 
and  relatively  quick  QSYs  could  be 
carried  out.  With  limited  operating 
time  between  0430  and  0515  hours, 
using  10/12  watts  CW  between  3560 
and  3580  kHz,  I  was  able  to  make 
some  occasional  QSOs. 

More  recently,  using  my  substantial 
(or  at  least  hard-won)  background  of 
practical  know-how  accumulated  over 
many  years,  1  arrived  at  the  following 
m. 


i 


Fig.  3.  A  successful  TXferrite  loop.  Much 
easier  to  adjust  than  Fig.  2, 

16    73  Amateur  Radio  Today  *  March  1999 


Ferrite  transmitting  loop  for  the  80 
and  160  meter  bands 

This  design  uses  a  12-inch-long  by 
three-quarter- inch-diameter  fabricated 
ferrite  rod  of  either  Type  61  or  Type 
F14  material. 

The  schematic  in  Fig,  4  shows  Ll 
suspended  above  a  metal  base  plate, 
and  resonated  by  variable  capacitor  C 
The  54  inches  of  RG-58  coaxial 
feedline  is  tapped  onto  the  opposite 
end  of  Ll,  for  a  Z  =  50  ohms  match. 
With  the  specified  turns  and  construc- 
tion of  the  loop,  it  covers  both  the  80 
and  160  meter  bands,  although  I  in- 
tended it  primarily  for  80  m  CW.  Fig. 
7  shows  the  general  layout  built  onto  a 
metal  baseplate  13  inches  long  by  six 


12"  x  3/4*  DIA, 
FERRITE  ROD 


28  TURNS  ON 
r  DIA.  FORMER 
Ll  /  (OVER  ROD) 


50  Q 


CHASSIS 
PlATt 


Fig.  4.  Schematic  of  author's  1997  80-160 
m  ferrite  TX  loop.  Ll  =  28  spaced  wire 
turns  tapped  2-3/4  turns  for  Z  =  50  ohms. 
C  =  150  pF  small  TX-type  variable. 


inches  wide,  with  an  overall  height  of 
four  and  one-quarter  inches. 

Construction 

Fig.  4  shows  a  12-inch-long  by 
three-quarter- inch-diameter  ferrite  rod 
fabricated  from  three  12-inch-long  bv 
three-eighths-inch-diameter  rods  (Amidon 
Type  61  or  MGM  Type  F14)  cemented 
side  by  side. 

Each  12-inch  rod  is  made  from  two 
six-inch  rods  or  three  four-inch  rods, 
adhered  end  to  end  ( Fig,  5 A).  You  can 
cut  the  rods  to  length  with  a  small 
hacksaw.  The  ends  of  the  rods  should 
be  lightly  cleaned  off  with  very  fine 
abrasive  paper  and  cemented  end  to 
end  using  cyanoacrylate  adhesive,  which 
is  very  fast- setting. 

The  three  resulting  1 2-inch  rods  are 
adhered  together,  side  by  side,  effec- 
tively producing  one  solid  rod,  as  in 
Fig,  5B,  You  must  carry  out  this  opera- 
tion w?ith  speed,  as  it  takes  only  a  few 
seconds  for  the  adhesive  to  set,  Wear  a 
pair  of  plastic/rubber  kitchen  gloves  to 
avoid  a  rod  securely  glued  to  a  finger, 
and  a  trip  to  the  emergency  room  to 
separate  them! 

The  format  of  the  12-inch  by  three- 
quarter- inch-diameter  rod  assists  with 
core  cooling,  as  you  can  see  from  the 
obvious  vents  showrn  in  Figs.  5B  and 
5C 

I  wound  Ll  onto  a  seven-inch-long 
by  one-inch-internal-diamctcr  thinwall 
cardboard  tube  (ex-household  foil). 
The  wire  used  was  PVC-covered  24/ 
0.2  mm  copper  with  an  overall  diam- 
eter of  2.05  mm  and  a  rating  of  6  A  at 
1000  volts  RMS,  Any  similarly  rated 


12'- 


ADHESIVE 


2x6* 


] 


ADHESIVE 


3x4" 

(a) 


ADHESIVE 


=1 


1 

Q  0.375' 

j 

O  0.375' 

t 


ADHESIVE 


(b) 


TxV  DJA.  ID  7HINWALL  CARDBOARD  TUBE 


BUILD  UP  ROD  DIAMETER 
WITH  MASKING  TAPE 

(0 


Fig.  5.  Assembly  of  3/4"  ferrite  rod  and  coil  former  for  LL  (A)  Fabrication  of  12  "  x  3/8"- 
diameter  rods.  (B)  Fabrication  of  12"  x  3/4" -diameter  ferrite  rod.  (C)  Assembly  of  coil 
LI  former  on  UB\ 


PVC-covered  wire  would  no  doubt 
suffice,  providing  the  overall  diameter 
is  the  same. 

The  LI  winding  consists  of  28  turns 
of  the  above  wire,  wound  counterclock- 
wise, evenly  spaced  approximately  one 
wire  diameter  between  turns  (Fig-  4). 
The  right-hand  wire  drops  down  to  the 
variable  capacitor  C  (Figs*  4,  6,  and  7). 
The  50-ohm  tap  is  taken  from  two  and 
three-quarters  turns  in  from  the  oppo- 
site end.  Spots  of  adhesive  should  hold 
each  turn  to  the  coil  tube.  The  54 
inches  of  RG-58  coaxial  feedline  is 
connected  to  the  tap  as  shown  in  Figs, 
6  and  7. 

LI  is  slipped  over  the  center  of  the 
ferrite  rod  as  shown  in  Fig,  5,  Two 
bands  of  masking  tape  are  built  up  to 
hold  the  coil  and  rod  firmly  in  position 
(Fig.  5C). 

The  150  pF  variable  capacitor  should 
be  a  widely  spaced,  larger,  well- insu- 
lated receiving  type,  or  a  small  TX  type. 
On  the  prototype,  I  used  a  Jackson  type 
E,  with  mounting  feet. 

The  whole  assembly  is  mounted  on 
an  aluminum  base  plate  18  inches  by 


six  inches  (Figs.  6  and  7),  Two  hard- 
wood pieces  one-half  inch  by  one- 
and-three-quarters  inches  by  four  and 
one-half  inches  high  support  the  LI/ 
ferrite  rod  assembly.  In  each  a  three- 
quarter- inch- diameter  hole  is  bored  for 
a  one-quarter- inch  depth  as  shown. 

The  right-hand  wood  support  is 
mounted  with  base  screws  and  a  small 
bracket,  as  shown  in  Figs*  6  and  7.  You 
then  insert  the  coil  rod  end  into  the 
three-quaiter-inch-diameter  bored  hole; 
the  left-hand  wood  support  is  put  over 
the  other  rod  end;  and  the  outline  of 
the  support  base  is  marked,  with  a  pen- 
cil, on  the  baseplate,  It  can  now  be  fit- 
ted to  the  baseplate  with  base  wood 
screws,  and  a  small  bracket  (Figs*  6 
and  7). 

The  variable  capacitor  is  secured  to 
the  baseplate  with  base  foot  brackets 
or  a  small  metal  bracket,  depending  on 
the  type  of  variable  capacitor  used.  It 
should  be  positioned  as  shown,  so  that 
it  is  near  the  coil  end.  You  then  fit  an  in- 
sulated extension  shaft  and  a  large  knob. 
Secure  wiring  connections  are  essen- 
tial. The  RG-58  feedline  is  connected 


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CIRCLE  136  ON  READER  SERVICE  CARD 

73  Amateur  Radio  Today  *  March  1999    17 


4.25*  x  0.5"  X  1,75* 
WOODEN  SUPPORT 


\ 


075"  DIA  COUIMTER-BORE 
TO  0  25*  DEPTH 


50  OHM 
COAX 


Ll(RG4&5c) 


TAP 


T? 


FERRITE 
RODS 


Ik 


CLAMP 

METAL 
BRACKET 


WlTHOLT<NC5B 


—A 


Qci 


A 


i 


t 

2.5* 


4.25 


ALUMINUM  BASE  PIATE 


13' 


Fig.  6.  Assembly,  side  view, 

as  shown.  The  drop  down  wire,  from 
the  coil  end,  should  be  rigid  16-gauge 
tinned  copper  wire. 

Testing  and  operation 

The  prototype  covered  from  1 800  kHz 
to  4000  kHz,  with  a  small  overlap  at 
either  end.  So  it  covers  both  the  80- 
meter  and  160-meter  bands,  though  all 
"OH  air"  tests  were  between  3550  and 
3580  kHz,  using  CW. 

The  loop  should  be  connected  to  the 
TX  and  RX  combo,  with  a  short  length 
of  coaxial  feed! inc.  A  54-inch  section 
was  used  on  the  prototype,  just  long 
enough  for  the  loop  to  rest  on  a  small 
table  alongside  the  operating  position. 
Grounding  is  at  the  TX/RX,  and  not  at 
the  loop. 

The  frequeiio  range  of  the  loop 
should  be  checked  against  a  calibrated 
receiver,  In  the  absence  of  signals  at  the 
time,  a  noise  signal  can  be  generated  by 


a  pocket  electronic  calculator  placed  a 
short  way  from  the  loop.  This  pro- 
duces a  hash  which  will  peak  at  the 
resonant  frequency. 

For  checking  with  the  TX,  a  field 
strength  meter  ( FSM )  and  a  large  neon 
bulb  are  all  that  are  necessary.  A  useful 
addition,  if  available,  is  a  small  por- 
table TV  nearby,  as  a  back-up  check 
for  TVL 

On  the  prototype,  both  the  RX  and 
TX  were  tuned  to  3560  kHz.  The  loop 
was  first  resonated  with  the  RX.  The 
TX  tuned  up  on  a  dummy  load,  and 
then  connected  to  the  loop,  and  10/12 
watts  fed  into  it.  This  produced  a  read- 
ing on  the  FSM  placed  nearby.  Only  a 
minor  adjustment  was  needed  on  the 
loop  resonating  capacitor  to  peak  the 
FSM  reading. 

Placing  the  neon  near  the  loop  coil 
showed,  as  expected,  a  high  RF  volt- 
age at  the  variable  capacitor  end — and 
zero  at  the  feedline  end.  Note:  Take  care, 


4  25' x  0  5' XI  75" 
WOODEN  SUPPORT 


0.75*  DIA  COUNTER-BORE 
TO  0  25' DEPTH 


L  _ 


LI 


FERRITE 
RODS 


'///////////// 


FERRITE 
RODS 


50  OHM 
COAX 

ALUJVUNUM  BASE  PLATE  03'  x  6'  x  16  GAUGE) 


CI 


.j 


ttSUUTTO 
EXTtftfiON 

SHAFT  WTTH 


6Q* 


13J 


Fig,  7.  Assembly,  top  view. 

18   73  Amateur  Radio  Today  *  March  1999 


because  even  with  10/12  watts  input, 
you  can  still  experience  a  nasty  RF 
bum  from  the  variable  capacitor 
(which  in  an  ideal  world  should  be 
placed  in  a  plastic  box). 

Using  10/12  watts  input,  no  harmon- 
ies could  be  detected  on  the  FSM,  nor 
TVI  on  the  portable  TV. 

Using  progressively  higher  power,  I 
found  that  the  core  saturation  point  oc- 
curred at  around  22  watts.  As  expected, 
this  was  indicated  by  a  dramatic  drop  in 
radiated  signal  indicated  on  the  FSM, 
and  an  increase  in  ferrite  core  tempera- 
ture and  harmonic  radiation  (espe- 
cially the  third).  This  was  using  CW 
with  kev-down. 

Reverting  to  the  10/12  watts  input,  I 
found  that  the  TX  VFO  (at  3560  kHz) 
could  be  remned  approximately  12 
kHz,  without  any  reduction  in  the  radi- 
ated signals  on  the  FSM  and  thus  siv- 
ing  useful  instantaneous  QSY  facilities. 
Furthermore,  a  move  outside  this  12 
kHz  "bandwidth"  required  only  a 
quickly  executed  minor  adjustment  to 
the  loop  tuning  capacitor.  This  re- 
moved all  the  previously  described  op- 
erating difficulties  experienced  with 
the  circuit  in  Fig,  2P 

Remember,  it  is  essential  to  be  able 
to  rotate  the  directional  loop  towards 
the  other  station,  as  indicated  by 
maximum  sienal  on  the  receiver. 

On-air  activity  for  me  at  this  QTH  is 
normally  limited  to  30  to  60  minutes 
on  80  m  CW  four  or  five  days  per 
week,  terminating  with  a  short  regular 
QSO  at  about  05 10  GMT  with  a  friend 
in  Stuttgart,  Germany,  maybe  about 
250  miles  distant.  On  some  mornings, 
in  good  conditions,  I  have  been  able 
to  use  This  ferrite  loop  for  this  QSO. 

Conclusions 

1  hope  that  some  other  amateurs  will 
take  up  my  challenge,  make  up  this 
ferrite  TX  loop  antenna,  and  then  pro- 
ceed to  improve  it.  I  also  hope  that 
someone  can  try  it  outdoors  or  in  the 
attic,  with  remote  tuning  and  rotation 
facilities. 

We  all  know  that  it  will  only  be  by 
many  more  amateurs  experimenting 
with  such  ferrite  transmitting  loops 
that  their  true  potential  will  ever  be 
realized. 


Ferrite  rod  suppliers 

Type  61  material: 

Amidon  Inc. 

RO.  Box  25867 

Santa  Ana  CA  92799  USA 

Type  FI4  material: 
MMG-North  America 
126  Pennsylvania  Avenue 
Patersoo  NJ  07503  USA 

MMG-Neosid 
fcknield  Way  West 
Letchworth, 
Hertfordshire  SG6  4AS 
England  UK 

Further  reading 

"The  Fe-One  Experimental  Compact 
Transmitting  Antenna,"  Richard  Q. 
Marris  G2BZQ,  Practical  Wireless, 
January  1989. 

"An  Experimental  HF  Ferrite  Loop 
Transmitting  Antenna,"  Richard  Q. 
Marris  G2BZQ,  Elektor  Electronics, 
March  1993. 

"Experimental  Quadraform  Ferrite 
Transmit/Receive  Antenna,"  Richard 
Q.  Marris  G2BZQ,  Elektor  Electron- 
ics, November  1 99 1 . 

Magnetics  and  Ferro- Magnetics 
Materials.  Amidon  Inc.,  April  1995. 

Product  Catalogue  Issue  I  A,  Book  L 
MMG-North  America  &  MMG- 
Neosed. 


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73  Amateur  Radio  Today  ■  March  1999    19 


Number  20  on  your  Feedback  card 


Signals  From  the  Ice: 
Now  That's  Really  Cool! 

Here  s  what  happens  when  hams  meet  Alaska  's  Matanuska  Glacier. 


John  Reisenauer,  Jr.  KL7JR 

P.O.  Box  4001 
West  Richiand  WA  99353 


Few  things  get  my  blood  racing 
like  portable  amateur  radio  op- 
erations in  Alaska-  1  reminded 
Kent  KL5T  (ex-NL7VJ)  that  we 
hadn't  done  any  HF  outings,  besides 
Field  Day,  for  a  couple  of  years.  Kent 
and  I  are  members  of  the  South  Cen- 
tral Amateur  Radio  Club  (SCARC)  in 
Anchorage.  Kent  is  the  current  presi- 
dent; Fd  had  the  privilege  in  1993. 


When  I  said,  "We  should  do  some- 
thing unique,  like  operate  from  a  gla- 
cier" I  got  one  of  his  "you  must  have 
been  out  in  the  sun  too  long"  looks.  I 
think  Kent's  memory  was  still  fresh 
with  visions  of  our  last  ARRL  Sweep- 
stakes contests  from  the  Yukon — when 
it  was  40  below  zero  (NL7VJ/VY1, 
1991  and  VYIQST,  1993).  Kent  said, 
"We'd  better  test  the  gear  (he  wasn't 


Photo  A.  KLSTand  daughter  Kirsten  on  "practice  rim  "from  Kirsten  *$  Island.  Ail  photos 
hvKUJR. 

20    73  Amateur  Radio  Today  •  March  1999 


too  excited  about  my  proposed  an- 
tenna!) and  we  may  as  well  take  my 
Zodiak™  to  give  out  an  island  or  two 
at  the  same  time  " 

A  practice  run 

It  didn't  take  long  to  slip  the  Zodiak 
(a  rugged  inflatable  boat)  into  the 
murky  water  for  Kirsten *s  Island,  in 
Anchorage,  near  Cook  Inlet  Kent 
worked  on  setting  up  the  station,  a  TS- 
570D  transceiver  sitting  on  a  plastic 
cooler  for  a  table,  wrhile  his  daughter 
Kirsten  helped  me  assemble  a  20-meter 
vertical  antenna  made  from  a  length  of 
half-inch  copper  pipe  with  a  CB  whip 
hose  clamped  to  the  tip.  Shortly  after 
0130Z  on  a  beautiful  September  9th, 
1998,  evening,  we  came  on  20  meters 
as  KL5T  portable. 

Propagation  was  incredible,  as  we 
logged  one  station  after  another  and 
exchanged  5/9  reports  both  ways.  The 
vertical  was  mounted  in  a  fishing  rod 
holder  bolted  to  the  beached  Zodiak. 
We  were  using  Westchester  Lagoon  for 
a  ground  plane.  An  hour  later,  with 
microphone  still  in  hand,  Kent  suggested 
we  move  to  another  nearbv  island, 
Mosquitoes?  Hordes  of  them  made  op- 
erating interesting  at  times  from  these 


spongelike    grass-knoll    islands    slam 
full  of  goose  droppings. 

Kent,  a/k/a  "Mr.  CW,"  is  having  an 
FB  time  on  phone!  Still  maintaining 
our  popularity  on  20-meter  phone,  the 
contacts  continued  to  flow.  On  battery 
power,  we  racked  up  another  100  Qs 
all  over  the  US  and  the  following 
countries:  VEn  KL7,  HK,  LU,  XE  and 
UA.  Kent's  Island  was  also  registered 
for  the  US  Islands  Awrards  (USI)  pro- 
gram. Kent  was  convinced  this  simple 
antenna  design  works  DX!  On  the  way 
home  wre  discussed  the  glacier  outing 
and  who  else  we  could  entice  to  join 
us. 

Journey  to  the  ice 

mr 

Three  days  later,  I  picked  up  Randy 
AL7PJ  (SCARC  treasurer),  and  we  set 
out  for  Matanuska  Glacier,  100  miles 
northeast  of  Anchorage,  Kent  KL5T 
had  been  called  out  of  town  by  Uncle 
Sam  (he's  stationed  at  Elmendorf  AFB 
in  Anchorage)  and  would  miss  out  on 
all  the  fun. 

A  primitive  land  lay  before  us.  We 
gazed  across  the  massive  Matanuska 
Glacier's  awesome  blue  and  white  ice 
formations  and  had  an  eerie  insight 
into  what  the  Ice  Age  must  have 
looked  like.  Ice  along  the  glacier  sur- 
face melts,  me  It  water  streams  are 
formed  In  their  search  for  low  ground, 
these  streams  carve  impressive  tunnels 
and  sculptures  of  all  sizes  and  shapes, 
throughout  the  glacier. 

The  enormous  blue  river  of  ice  is  lo- 
cated one  mile  off  the  Glenn  Highway 
in  a  fertile  valley  of  rushing  water- 
ways. Covering  an  area  27  miles  long 
and  four  miles  wide,  this  is  the  largest 
road-accessible  glacier  in  Alaska;  in  fact. 
Randy  informed  me,  a  Star  Trek  movie 
was  filmed  on  Matanuska  Glacier  a  few 
years  ago, 

The  giant  glacier  originates  from 
vast  mountain  ice  fields  13,000  feet  in 
elevation  in  the  Chugach  mountain 
range.  We  couldn't  help  but  wonder 
howr  propagation  would  be  with  the 
Chugach  Mountains  to  the  south  and 
the  Talkeetna  Mountains  to  the  north. 

It  was  a  drizzling  rainy  September 
afternoon  when  we  arrived.  The  sky  was 
an  ominous  dark  gray,  with  just  a  sliver 
of  sunlight  poking  through,  illuminating 


<  *   - 


_'L 


Photo  B,  Matanuska  G  lacier,  melt  water  streams  and  terminal  moraine. 


the  glacier,  aqua-blue  on  one  side  and 
a  pale  green  on  the  other  We  knew 
we'd  have  our  work  cut  out  for  us,  be- 
sides the  quarter-mile  hike  to  the  gla- 
cier. The  going  was  slow.  We  made  our 
own  trail,  winding  around  the  glacial 
streams  and  massive  rock  boulders  de- 
posited as  moraine  (dirt,  rock,  and 
other  dragged  debris)  thousands  of 
years  ago  by  the  glacier  We  had  to  trek 
about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  out  over  the 
slippery  black  ice  (young  ice,  350  to 
500  years  old)  and  climb  about  100  feet 
before  we  reached  the  blue  ice  (old  ice, 
5,000  to  7,000  years  old)  where  we'd 
operate. 

Glaciers  advance  and  retreat,  de- 
pending on  the  weather  and  snow  ac- 
cumulation as  they  grind  their  way 
over  the  land.  Glacier  trekking  is  dan- 
gerous and  should  never  be  attempted 
alone  or  without  proper  safety  gear,  The 
basic  safety  gear  should  be  crampons, 
ropes,  ice  axes,  and  a  survival  kit  of 
some  sort.  While  Randy  and  1  are  not 
novice  glacier  hikers,  we  didn't  venture 
far  onto  the  ice  either. 

Crevasses  {deep  cracks  In  a  glacier) 
infested  the  face  of  Matanuska  Glacier. 
Some  glacier  crevasses  are  large  enough 
to  accommodate  a  10-story  building  or 
easily  hide  a  downed  aircraft!  A  few 
times  we  stopped  to  listen  to  the  hol- 
low lowing  sounds  emanating  from  the 
groaning,  creaking  ice  beneath  us. 

After  finding  something  of  a  level 
spot  on  the  ice,  we  immediately  put  the 


station  together  While  Randy  was  hook- 
ing up  the  radio,  I  mounted  the  copper 
pipe  antenna  to  a  wooden  stand  an- 
chored with  rocks  (moraine),  Four  quar- 
ter-wave-long  ground  radials  were 
spread  out  on  the  ice  to  complete  the  in- 
stallation. Much  to  our  surprise,  the  rain 
had  stopped — but  black  storm  clouds 
were  moving  in+  We  were  now  ready  to 
battle  the  mountains  and  approaching 
storm. 

Cool  DXing  with  K71CE  and 
KL7GIacier 

Randy  staited  off  using  K7ICE,  the 
club  call  of  the  North  Countrv  DX  As- 
sociation,  which  was  chartered  to  pro- 
mote  amateur  radio  in  the  north. 
Conditions  on  20  meters  were  terrible, 
compared  with  a  few  nights  earlier 
from  the  islands.  Contest  QRM  ruled 
and  most  signals  were  weak-  It  took  an 
hour  to  make  the  first  contact. 

After  a  few  more  hard-earned  QSOs, 
Randy  called  Jim  KL7CC  in  Anchor- 
age on  his  cell  phone  to  listen  for  us  on 
20  meters.  How's  that  for  ingenuity? 
Wc  barely  heard  Jim,  and  he  had  no 
copy  on  us.  Next,  Randy  called  Del 
KL7HF,  who  spotted  us  on  packet  as 
"K7ICE/KL7  on  Matanuska  Glacier" 
That  helped.  Calls  from  W6  and  W7 
started  to  come  in.  We  also  enjoyed  a 
short  opening  to  W1-W3, 

Packet  radio  again  proved  to  be  a 
valuable  asset.  An  Oregon  ham  replied, 
"K7ICE  is  camped  on  a  glacier — now 

73  Amateur  Radio  Today  •  March  1999    21 


.'/I'' 


Photo  C  Crevasses  on  Matanuska's  face. 

that's  really  cool!*'  We  thought  so,  too. 
The  most-often  asked  questions  about 
our  expedition  were  "Why  are  you 
there?"  and  "Why  are  glaciers  blue?" 

Well,  Randy  and  I  shook  our  heads 
about  the  first  question  and  replied 
"because  operating  HF  from  an  Alas- 
kan glacier  was  probably  a  first  for 
amateur  radio,  if  not  a  first  for  us,  and 
we  thought  that  warranted  our  efforts." 

As  for  the  second  question,  I  read 
aloud  a  paragraph  from  a  brochure 
obtained  from  the  Matanuska  Glacier 
Lodge  which  went  into  detail  in  ex- 
plaining why  glaciers  appear  blue  in 
color  I  had  known  that  question  was 
sure  to  pop  up.  For  those  who  want  to 
know,  here  it  is:  Glaciers  are  blue  be- 
cause the  ice  crystals  are  extremely 
dense.  After  many  centuries  of  pres- 
sure, hardly  any  cracks  or  air  bubbles 
are  present  to  reflect  light  The  old 
(compressed)  ice  crystals  reflect  only 
the  short  blue  wavelengths  of  light  and 


LOW  PROFILE  ANTENNAS 

THAT  REAI.LY  WORK! 

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ISOTRON 

BILAL  COMPANY 

Call  for  a  FREE  Catalog: 

719/687-0650 

137  Manchester  Dr. 

Florissant,  CO  80816 

www.  catalogcity.  com 

Go  to  Keyword  Search  &  Type  in:  tsotron 


CIRCLE  42  ON  READER  SERVICE  CftRO 

22  73  Amateur  Radio  Today  •  March  1999 


absorb  wavelengths  of  other  colors. 
The  older  the  ice,  the  bluer  it  appears, 
especially  on  overcast  days. 

We  weren't  working  any  stations 
outside  North  America,  so  we  relo- 
cated our  station  to  a  higher  spot  on 
the  ice  and  switched  to  SCARC's  club 
call,  KL7Glacier.  Band  conditions 
were  improving.  We  were  visited  by 
other  glacier  hikers  who  were  curious 
about  the  noise  we  were  making  and 
our  antenna.  One  guy  said,  "You  must 
be  taking  sonar  readings  of  the  ice  or 
something."  He  commented  "Far  out," 
when  we  told  him  we  had  just  talked  to 
Italy  and  that  we  were  bouncing  HF 
signals  off  the  ice. 

IU2P  said,  "Working  a  glacier  is  a 
first  for  me."  K6JOX  commented, 
"You're  on  packet  as  DXing  from  a 
glacier  in  Alaska — bet  you're  having 
an  adventure." 

Just  when  we  thought  we  were  the 
only  hams  around  for  probably  a  hun- 
dred-mile radius,  we  were  floored  when 
this  stranger,  out  of  the  blue,  asked, 
"How's  propagation  on  20  meters, 
guys?"  We  turned  around  and  eyeballed 
with  W5EGF,  who  said  he  was  vacation- 
ing in  the  area.  He  also  told  us  he'd  had 
that  call  since  he  was  eight  years  old! 

If  that  wasn't  bizarre  enough,  I  fi- 
nally made  contact  with  Leif  JW2PA, 
on  Spitzbergen  Island,  who  said  he  had 
visited  Matanuska  Glacier  just  two 
weeks  before,  Leif  was  surprised  to 
learn  we'd  been  calling  him  for  an 


Photo  D.   AL7PJ  operating  as  K7ICE/ 
Matanuska  Glacier 


hour  when  he  gave  us  a  5/7  report.  We 
had  a  nice  rag-chew  about  his  Alaska 
trip.  I  told  Leif  that  if  he  was  on  E- 
mail,  we'd  send  him  photos  of  our  gla- 
cier operations.  Randy  brought  his 
digital  camera  and  naturally  I  had  two 
35  mm  cameras  along.  Many  signals 
were  5/9  now. 

After  four  hours  on  the  glacier,  a 
cold  wind  picked  up,  making  operating 
highly  uncomfortable.  We  decided  to 
call  it  a  day.  We  hadn't  done  too  badly, 
working  six  countries  and  having  an 
exciting  adventure,  too!  Shortly  after 
we  arrived  back  in  Anchorage,  Randy 
E-mailed  the  photos  of  our  ice  station 
to  Leif  and  me.  It's  amazing  what  you 
can  do  with  amateur  radio — and  from 
where! — in  the  great  state  of  Alaska! 

I'd  like  to  thank  all  who  contacted 
us,  especially  other  SCARC  members; 
Jim  KL7CC,  for  the  use  of  his  TS- 
570D;  TJ  KL7TS,  for  the  tools  and 
hardware;  Kent  KL5T,  for  the  gel 
cells,  coax  and  island  operation;  Del 
KL7HF,  for  the  packet  radio  spots;  and 
Randy  AL7PJ,  for  teaming  up  with 
me.  The  North  continues  to  call  me. 
Those  who  understand  are  shaking 
their  heads  in  silent  understanding. 
But  for  now,  from  mosquito-infested 
islands  to  bone-chilling  blue  ice,  another 
fun-filled  amateur  radio  adventure  "up 
here"  is  history. 


Number  23  on  your  Feedback  card 


Anti-Metric? 

You  already  use  it  more  than  you  think! 


DonHillgerWD0GCK 
Colorado  State  University 

Fort  Collins  CO  80523-1375 
[hillger@eira.colostate.eduj 


United  States  has  been  in  the 
process  of  converting  to  the 
metric  system  (called  metrica- 
tion) for  over  20  years,  In  the  mid- 
1970s,  most  British  Commonwealth 
countries  made  the  metric  transition, 
leaving  the  United  States  in  the  com- 
pany of  other  officially  nonmetric 
countries  such  as  Liberia  and 
Myanmar  (Burma).  In  fact,  the  US  is 
the  only  industrialized  nation  not  pre- 
dominantly using  metric.  Even  Britain 
is  largely  metric,  but  still  uses  miles  on 
road  signs  and  pints  for  been  Closer 
links  to  the  European  Union  have 
caused  Britain  to  adopt  metric  much 
faster  than  the  US* 

So  why  are  we  not  metric? 

The  reason  we  are  not  metric  is  a 
combination  of  limited  opposition  and 
a  much  larger  portion  of  apathy.  The 
fact  that  metric  is  not  the  "native" 
measurement  system  for  most  Ameri- 
cans breeds  resistance.  Some  people 
refuse  to  change,  mainly  out  of  fear  of 
the  unknown.  But  that  tear  can  be 
overcome  w  ith  a  better  understanding 
of  the  simplicity  of  the  metric  system, 
a  system  that  is  much  easier  to  use 
than  our  existing  hodgepodge  of  units. 


The  apathy  pan  comes  from  those 
who  may  know  the  benefits  o(  metric 
measurement,  but  are  unwilling  to  take 
steps  toward  that  goal.  They  want 
someone  else  to  change  first.  In  this 
article  we'll  see  howr  many  products 
and  services  are  already  metric  or 
have  changed  to  metric  in  recent 
years.  Because  of  these,  we  are  more 
familiar  with  metric  units  than  we  may 
realize. 

When  most  of  us  encounter  metric 
units,  it's  often  through  conversion 
factors  between  inch-pound  and  metric 
units.  Conversion  factors,  such  as  3.28 
feet  per  meter,  only  serve  to  cloud  the 
simplicity  of  the  metric  system,  where 
conversions  between  units  use  factors 
of  10.  Dual  units,  however,  are  only  a 
temporary  inconvenience,  since  if  we 
were  fully  metric,  we  would  not  be 
converting  between  metric  and  inch* 
pound  units  and  would  not  encounter 
such  odd  conversions.  This  is  a  major 
advantage  of  having  one  unit  system 
throughout  the  world. 

The  benefits  of  the  metric  system 

The  metric  system  is  a  decimal  sys- 
tem, like  our  monetary  system*  In  fact, 
the  US  pioneered  decimal  coinage  in 


1 786.  All  other  currencies  in  the  world 
are  now  decimal.  In  Great  Britain,  the 
former  system  consisting  of  pounds 
sterling,  shillings,  pence,  and  farthings 
was  abandoned  in  1971.  Now  the  Brit- 
ish use  a  pound  unit  of  currency  that  is 
divided  into  100  pence.  In  the  late 
1960s  and  early  1970s  all  other  coun- 
tries using  the  former  British  system 
changed  to  decimal  currencies  as  well, 
leaving  behind  the  days  of  nondecimal 
monetary  systems.  The  last  country, 
Nigeria,  changed  in  1973. 

In  1996,  the  Canadian  Stock  Ex- 
change was  decimalized,  and  the  US 
stock  exchanges  are  finally  going  deci- 
mal soon  after  the  year  2000,  As  an 
intermediate  step  toward  that  goal, 
stock  prices  are  now  quoted  in  six- 
teenths, or  6.25  cent  increments,  down 
from  eighths,  or  12.5  cents.  The  switch 
to  decimal  trading  will  bring  the  US  in 
line  with  the  rest  of  the  world's  major 
exchanges. 

Some  people  may  argue  the  benefits 
of  base  2  (binary)  and  base  12  (duo- 
decimal) systems  for  measurement,  as 
opposed  to  decimal.  However,  neither 
of  these  matches  the  world's  existing 
decimal  counting  system,  and  would 
thereby  suffer  a  major  disadvantage  if 

73  Amateur  Radio  Today  *  March  1999    23 


used  with  decimal  coinage  and  decimal 
measurement  systems. 

The  metric  system  is  more  universal 
and  international  than  the  common 
units  most  Americans  use.  And  we 
know  well  that  amateur  radio  is  an 
international  hobby.  Far  more  people 
use  metric  than  not.  When  we  talk  on 
the  air  to  anyone  outside  the  US,  do 
we  expect  them  to  understand  our 
measurements  in  miles,  feet,  and 
inches,  or  our  temperatures  in  degrees 
Fahrenheit? 

In  fact,  the  US  is  the  only  industrial- 
ized nation  that  still  uses  Fahrenheit  in 
weather  reports  for  surface  tempera- 
tures. Upper  air  temperatures  have  al- 
ways been  measured  and  reported  in 
degrees  Celsius  worldwide.  And,  as  of 
July  1996,  the  international  standard 
code  for  hourly  and  special  surface 
weather  observations  (METAR)  now 
uses  degrees  Celsius  for  the  temperature 
and  dewpoint  Fields. 

The  metric  system  is  based  on  the 
idea  of  one  base  unit  for  all  similar 
types  of  measurements,  such  as  the 
meter  for  length.  The  meter  can  be 
subdivided  into  decimal  parts  by  using 
prefixes,  arriving  at  centimeters,  milli- 
meters, and  micrometers.  Or  the  kilo 
prefix  can  be  applied  to  arrive  at  kilo- 
meters for  larger  distances.  These  units 
are  factors  of  10,  100,  or  1000  differ- 
ent, and  lengths  can  be  converted  in 
scale  merely  by  moving  the  decimal 
marker.  No  need  for  numerous  units 
for  length  such  as  inches,  feet,  yards, 
rods,  and  (statute  and  nautical)  miles, 
where  the  conversion  factors  between 
units  are  all  different.  The  units  we 
use  are  not  as  well  known  as  some 
people  claim  they  are.  Quick,  what's 
the  definition  of  an  acre? 

Most  Americans  do  not  realize  that 
the  metric  system  was  made  legal  for 
all  purposes  in  the  US  in  1866.  Then, 
in  1893  our  common  inch-pound  units 
were  first  defined  and  standardized  in 
terms  of  metric  units,  which  arc  re- 
garded as  the  fundamental  and  interna- 
tionally-accepted standards  of  length, 
mass,  etc.  Much  later,  in  1958,  the 
definition  of  the  inch  was  finally  stan- 
dardized worldwide  as  25.4  millimeters 
exactly.  Previously  the  definition  of 
the  inch  varied  among  the  major  inch- 

24   73  Amateur  Radio  Today  *  Marchl999 


using  countries:  the  US,  Great  Britain, 
and  Canada,  The  difference  was 
enough  to  cause  confusion,  inefficien- 
cies, and  difficulties  during  World  War 
II  in  attempts  to  interchange  various 
precision  products. 

The  pound  and  the  gallon  are  also 
defined  in  terms  of  metric  units  (the  ki- 
logram and  the  liter)  by  US  law,  but  to 
a  larger  number  of  significant  figures 
than  the  inch.  Before  the  metric  system 
came  along,  there  were  numerous  stan- 
dards for  most  inch-pound  units.  These 
units  varied  greatly  in  some  cases, 
causing  problems  in  daily  commerce. 
This  problem  still  exists  for  some 
units,  such  as  the  foot,  where  the  inter- 
national foot  (based  on  the  standard 
25.4  mm  inch)  and  the  survey  foot 
(based  on  an  older  definition  of  the 
inch  used  by  the  US,  which  differs  by 
2  parts  in  10f))  arc  both  still  in  wide 
use. 

This  leaves  us  w^ith  two  definitions 
of  the  mile,  one  based  on  the  interna- 
tional foot  and  the  other  based  on  the 
survey  foot.  Although  this  may  not 
seem  like  a  big  difference,  it  causes 
the  two  definitions  of  a  mile  to  differ 
by  about  one-eighth  of  an  inch,  or  100 
miles  to  differ  by  over  one  foot! 

How  we  alreadv  use  the  metric 
system 

Don't  think  that  the  metric  system  is 
strange.  We  use  metric  units  in  many 
ways  now — possibly  in  many  more 
ways  than  we  realize. 

The  electrical  units  we  currently  use 
are  part  of  the  metric  system.  The  am- 
pere is  a  base  unit  in  SI  (the  Interna- 
tional System  of  Units).  Other 
electrical  units  such  as  volt,  watt, 
joule,  ohm,  farad,  and  henry  are  all  de- 
rived metric  units  (combinations  of 
base  and/or  other  derived  units). 

Amateurs  also  use  meters,  centime- 
ters, and  millimeters  for  wavelengths. 
We  have  frequency  allocations  on  the 
160  meter  through  23  centimeter 
bands.  For  higher  frequencies  we  gen- 
erally speak  in  terms  of  megahertz  and 
gigahertz  frequencies,  which  are  met- 
ric units  for  multiples  of  cycles  per 
second. 

When  building  a  dipole  antenna, 
why  struggle  with  the  fonnula  in  feet? 


You  Be  the  Judge 

(answers  at  bottom) 

Question  A:  Which  column  would 
you  rather  add? 

(The  two  sums  are  the  same.) 

1  yard  2  feet  3-1/4  inches 

1  foot  11-3/16  inches 

2  feet  5-1/2  inches 

3  yards  1  foot  6-5/8  inches 


1,607  meters 
0.589  meters 
0.749  meters 
3-216  meters 


Question  B;  A  room  measures  15 
feet,  3-3/4  inches  by  21  feet,  7-1/2 
inches  (4.667  m  by  6.591  m).  What  is 
its  floor  area  in  square  yards? 

What  is  its  floor  area  in  square 
meters? 

Question  C:  In  designing  a  calen- 
dar, you  wish  to  divide  an  area  of  7- 
1/4  inches  by  11  inches  (184  mm  by 
279  mm)  into  35  rectangles  (that  is, 
you  wish  to  divide  7-1/4  inches  by  5 
and  to  divide  U  inches  by  7).  What 
are  the  dimensions  of  each  rectangle 
in  inches?  What  are  the  dimensions 
of  each  rectangle  in  millimeters? 

Answer  A:  6  yards,  2  feet,  2-9/16 
inches,  or  6,161  meters 

Answer  B:  36  J9  square  yards,  or 
30.76  square  meters 

Answer  C:  1-29/64  inches  by  1- 
37/64  inches,  or  36.8  millimeters  by 
39.9  millimeters 


^ ■- 


When  using  the  formula  in  meters,  the 
half-wave  antenna  length  relates 
nicely  to  the  radio  wavelength.  For  ex- 
ample, on  the  20  meter  band,  the  half- 
wavelength  is  approximately  10 
meters  long,  a  more  logical  solution 
than  converted  to  33  feet.  And  for  a 
vertical  ground-plane  antenna,  the 
length  is  approximately  one-quarter  of 
the  radio  wavelength.  For  the  10  meter 
band,  the  quarter-wave  antenna  length 
is  approximately  two  and  a  half  meters, 


again  more  logically  related  lo  the 
wavelength  than  when  converted  to 
ciphl  feci. 

Amateurs  use  kilograms  for  satellite 
mass  (weight)  and  kilometers  for  satel- 
lite orbits.  Kilometers  are  also  used  for 
best  terrestrial  distances  for  VHF, 
UHF,  and  microwave  contacts — and 
how  about  low-noise  amplifiers  used 
for  satellite  reception?  Such  receivers 
are  rated  by  temperatures  in  kelvins, 
an  SI  unit  equal  in  size  to  the  degree 
Celsius  (the  metric  scale  used  for  ev- 
eryday temperatures),  but  on  a  scale 
with  the  zero  point  at  absolute  zero  of 
temperature  rather  than  at  the  freezing 
melting  point  of  water. 

Surface  mount  chips  are  making  the 
transition  away  from  inch-based  pin 
spacings  to  millimeter- based  contact 
spacings.  And  many  new  electronic 
connectors  use  millimeter  pin  spacings. 

Look  at  many  other  examples  of 
metric  usage  that  surround  us: 

In  photography,  we  have  28-.  35-. 
and  70-millimeter  (1MAX)  width  film. 
Lens  and  filter  sizes  are  given  in  milli- 
meters, as  are  eyeglass  lenses  and 
glasses  frames.  Stamps  and  stamp  col- 
lecting supplies  are  measured  in  milli- 
meters. Almost  all  pharmaceuticals 
and  vitamins  come  in  grams,  milli- 
grams, and  micrograms.  Many  cos- 
metic containers  arc  in  rounded  metric 
sizes.  Most  garden  seeds  are  packaged 
in  grams  or  milligrams.  All  food  pack- 
ages are  required  to  have  the  net 
weight  statement  in  both  metric  and 
non-metric  units,  and  an  increasing 
number  of  them  arc  coming  in  rounded 
metric  sizes.  Nutrition  fact  labels  on 
food  packages  show  the  mass  of  fat 
and  other  constituents  in  grams.  Li- 
quor and  wine  are  bottled  and  sold  in 
milliliters  and  liters  exclusively. 

Nearly  all  automobiles,  trucks,  mo- 
torcycles, and  bicycles  arc  now  built 
using  metric  standards  and  compo- 
nents. The  same  is  true  for  farm  and 
construction  equipment.  Skis  and 
snowboards  are  measured  in  centime- 
ters, and  soaring  and  sail  planes  use 
metric  measurements  for  most  applica- 
tions. Olympic  events  are  measured  in 
metric  units.  Running  race  distances 
are  mostly  in  kilometers,  as  are  cross- 
country ski  trails,  rowing  events,  and 
most  track  and  field  events* 


Those  3-1/2-inch  computer  dis- 
kettes are  actually  90  millimeters  in 
diameter,  and  compact  videotapes  are 
eight  millimeters  wide.  CDs  and 
DVDs  have  metric  diameters  as  well. 
Light  bulb  power  is  measured  in  watts 
and  light  output  in  lumens.  Mechani- 
cal pencil  lead  comes  in  0.5  and  0.7 
millimeter  widths.  Wallpaper  often 
comes  in  five-  and  10-meter  lengths 
and  metric  widths.  Construction  adhe- 
sive and  caulk  are  now  packaged  in 
300  milliliter  tubes.  Several  brands  of 
dental  floss  come  in  metric  (50  m  and 
100  m)  lengths,  as  do  all  cigarettes. 
Luggage  weight  for  international  flights 
is  measured  in  kilograms.  And  you 
thought  metric  units  were  only  used 
outside  the  US!  (Oh  ...  and  don't  forget 
your  metric  tool  set!) 

The  metric  system  is  not  dead  in 
America.  After  our  initial  steps  toward 
metric  in  the  1970s,  there  has  been 
some  delay,  but  progress  is  currently 
being  made  in  the  areas  of  federally- 
funded  road  and  building  construction. 
The  US  is  considering  allowing  met- 
ric-only labels  on  products  to  accom- 
modate the  export  of  those  products  to 
Europe,  whereas  dual  labeling  is  pres- 
ently required  on  all  consumer  products 
in  the  US. 

Arguments  for  converting 

Often  we  don't  realize  howr  much 
more  difficult  we  make  simple  arith- 
metic problems  by  not  using  metric 
units.  Our  educational  system  spends 
numerous  hours  leaching  our  collec- 
tion of  units,  fractions,  and  the  conver- 
sion factors  we  need  with  these  units. 
How  many  needless  conversions  are 
required  to  solve  a  problem  like:  There 
is  a  container  four  feet  11-13/16  inches 
tall,  five  feet  5-3  4  inches  wide,  and 
eight  feet  3-3/8  inches  long.  How 
many  gallons  does  it  hold? 

Or  trv  this  one:  There  is  a  field  one 
mile  64  chains  two  rods  three  feet 
three  inches  by  two  miles  50  chains 
one  rod  two  feet  five  inches.  How  big 
is  the  field  in  acres?  Or  how  big  is  the 
field  in  square  feet?  Many  of  us  do  not 
even  know  the  definition  of  a  chain  or 
a  rod! 

It  is  much  simpler  to  solve  these 
problems   using   the    metric    system. 


rather  than  with  our  nondecimal  inch- 
pound  units. 

Also,  what  (fwe  were  already  a  met- 
ric country  and  people  understood  it, 
and  then  someone  suggested  that  we 
change  to  new-fangled  inch-pound 
units.  That  is  when  people  would  >j\ : 
"What!  You  mean  we  should  adopt  a 
system  where  the  ratios  between  the 
units  are  12,  3,  1760,  and  5280  for 
common  lengths  alone?!"  Or:  "You 
mean  we  need  to  use  fractions!'*  Or 
even:  "You  mean  we  should  measure 
temperature  and  put  the  freezing  point 
of  water  at  32,  and  put  the  zero  point  at 
a  place  that  has  little  or  no  meaning?*' 
They  would  also  say  that  this  or  that 
new  unit  is  too  small  or  too  large,  a 
common  argument  when  converting  to 
metric.  Most  people  would  think  that 
such  a  proposal  to  change  away  from 
the  metric  system  to  a  less  logical  sys- 
tem was  absurd,  and  it  is,  because  we 
don't  see  any  countries  doing  that 

For  more  information 

The  metric  system  has  been  around 
since  the  late  1700s  and  in  its  modern 
SI  form  since  1960.  Yet  some  Ameri- 
cans may  not  realize  that  most  of  the 
world  uses  metric.  That's  partly  because 
our  news  media  conveniently  convert 
measurements  in  the  foreign  news, 
shielding  us  from  metric  usage  that  is 
prevalent  in  the  world.  Anyone  who  trav- 
els outside  the  US  soon  realizes  that  our 
nonmetric  units  are  not  used  in  other 
countries.  On  the  other  hand,  much  of 
the  world  either  speaks  or  understands 
our  English  language,  a  trend  that  can- 
not be  denied.  Would  it  not  be  much  sim- 
pler if  the  whole  world  spoke  one 
language  (but  that's  another  story)  and 
used  one  measurement  system  (metric)? 

Many  details  on  the  metric  system 
and  its  proper  use  are  not  included  in 
this  article.  The  US  Metric  Association 
(USMA)  maintains  a  Web  site  which 
contains  a  wealth  of  information  on 
the  metric  system,  references  to  metric 
standards  documents,  as  well  as  cur- 
rent information  on  the  status  of  the 
metrication  in  the  US.  The  URL  is: 
[http:  lamar.coIostate.edu  -hiliger  J 
or  [http://www.metric.org]. 

The  USMA  also  publishes  a  bimonthly 

newsletter  titled  Metric  Today:  ES 

73  Amateur  Radio  Today  •  March  1999    25 


— 


Number  26  on  your  Feedback  card 


Everyman's  Guide 
to  Active  Filter  Design 


Now  you  know. 


Filters?  Who  needs  filters?  The 
answer  is,  everybody  needs  fil- 
ters! Or  at  least  every  radio 
needs  them!  Electronic  filters  serve  to 
pass  signals  within  a  desired  band  of 
frequencies,  and  reject  signals  lying 
outside  this  range.  The  most  basic 
crystal  radio  contains  at  least  one  fil- 
ter, and  today's  modern  transceivers 
contain  dozens. 

The  ability  to  design  filters  for  a 
given  custom  application  is  a  valuable 
skill  for  the  home-brew  hobbyist. 
Good  audio  filtering  on  both  the  trans* 
mit  and  recci\e  of  vour  tie  can  really 
make  a  difference  in  the  intelligibility 
of  your  signals.  However  filter  design 
is  a  topic  not  thoroughly  covered  in 
The  ARRL  Handbook  nor,  for  that 
matter,  in  many  electrical  engineering 
curricula.  Designing  any  filter  based 
on  an  existing  circuit  is  a  math-inten- 
sive process  which  is  frightening 
enough,  but  to  design  a  filter  from 
scratch  usually  requires  circuit  optimi- 
zation computer  software  which  most 
hams  will  not  have  available.  So  what 
are  we  to  do? 

Luckily,  the  hard  mathematical  work 
involved  in  filter  design  has  already 
been  done  for  us.  In  the  early  days  of 
digital  computers,  it  was  recognized 

26   73  Amateur  Radio  Today  •  March  1999 


that  standard  tables  of  filter  compo- 
nents would  be  extremely  valuable  for 
those  engineers  not  wanting  to  derive 
these  quantities  for  themselves.  So,  au- 
thors such  as  Blinchikov,  Zverev,  ei 
qL,  have  compiled  wonderful  books 
containing  design  information  cover- 
ing every  conceivable  filter  you  could 
imagine. 

Texts  such  as  these  contain  tables  of 
component  values  allowing  the  de- 
signer to  construct  filters  consisting  of 
inductors,  capacitors,  and  resistors. 
The  filter  designer  will  discover  to  his 
dismay,  that  the  large-valued  inductors 
required  to  construct  a  filter  operating 
on  signals  in  the  audio  frequency 
range  are  not  stocked  at  the  local  Ra- 
dio Shack*1 — nor  anywhere  else!  This 
is  where  active  filters  are  so  valuable, 
as  they  allow  the  construction  of  fil- 
ter networks  composed  of  resistors, 
capacitors,  op  ampsT  and  no  inductors. 

Since  it  has  not  always  been  easy  to 
come  by  information  on  how  to  con- 
vert a  passive  filter  design,  such  as 
those  contained  in  the  filter  design 
handbooks,  to  a  more  easily  con- 
structed active  filter,  I  have  had  to  fig- 
ure much  of  this  out  for  myself  I  now 
have  quite  a  bag  of  tricks  allowing  me 
to  design  an  active  filter,  quickly,  of 


David  Cripe  KC3ZQ 
RR  2  Box  263 

Camp  Point  !L  62320 

nearly  any  topology  I  might  select. 
Looking  back  at  how  much  time  this 
information  could  have  saved  me  years 
ago  before  I  derived  it,  I  am  now 
sharing  this  so  that  others  may  benefit. 

Background 

There  is  a  certain  vocabulary  of  terms 
used  to  describe  filters,  and  it  is  useful 
to  become  familiar  w  ith  them.  A  given 
filter  has  a  passband,  that  range  of  fre- 
quencies it  is  designed  to  pass,  and  a 
stopbemd,  that  range  of  frequencies  it 
is  intended  to  attenuate.  The  frequency 
response  of  a  filter  is  its  ratio  of  output 
to  input  voltage  versus  frequency.  The 
frequency  at  which  a  filter's  output 
power  is  one-half  thai  at  the  center  of 
the  passband  is  regarded  as  the  point  of 
transition  between  the  passband  and 
stopband,  and  is  referred  to  the  -J  dB 
frequency. 

There  are  a  number  of  different 
types  of  filters  for  different  applica- 
tions. The  tow-pass  filter  serves  to 
pass  signals  below  a  given  frequency, 
and  block  those  above  this,  A  high- 
pass  filler,  conversely,  blocks  low- fre- 
quency signals,  and  passes  high- 
frequency  ones.  A  band-pass  filter 
passes  only  those  signals  lying  between 


Fig.  L  Two-pole  SalU'ft-Key  low-pass  fitter. 

two  frequencies,  while  a  band- reject 
filter  serves  to  notch  out  those  signals 
lying  in  a  certain  range. 

Additionally,  filters  are  further  de- 
fined by  the  shape  of  their  passband 
frequency  response  curves.  A  filter 
having  the  flattest  possible  frequency 
response  within  its  passband  is  called  a 
Butterworth  Filter  This  is  the  most 
common  type  encountered  in  electron- 
ics design.  A  filter  with  the  steepest 
possible  transition  between  the  pass* 
band  and  the  stopband  is  called  a 
Chebychev  filter.  However,  this  im- 
provement comes  at  a  price— the 
Chebychev  filter  exhibits  ripple  in  its 
passband  frequency  response.  The  am- 
plitude of  the  passband  ripple  of  a 
given  Chebychev  filler,  in  dB,  is  used 
to  describe  it,  A  Bessel  filter  possesses 
a  gradual  roll-off  of  frequency  re- 
sponse between  passband  and  stopband. 
The  Bessel  filter  frequency  response  is 
optimized  for  its  time-domain  re- 
sponse— which  is  to  say  that  it  does 
not  "ring"  in  the  manner  of  other  filter 
shapes,  such  as  the  Butterworth  and 
Chebychev,  Consequently,  the  best  CW 
filters  are  of  the  Bessel  type. 

The  amount  of  attenuation  a  Filter 
provides  within  the  stopband  is  a  func- 
tion of  the  number  of  inductors  and  ca- 
pacitors   it   contains*    For   a   simple 


low-pass  or  high-pass  filter,  the  total 
number  of  reactive  components  (Ls  or 
Cs)  is  the  number  of  poles  the  filter 
contains.  For  a  low- pass  filter,  the  in- 
crease  in  attenuation  for  each  octave  of 
frequency  increase  in  its  stopband  is  6 
dB  times  the  number  of  poles.  In  other 
words,  a  one-pole  filter  cuts  the  volt- 
age of  the  signal  passed  in  half  each 
time  its  frequency  is  doubled.  A  three- 
pole  filter  cuts  the  signal  voltage  to 
one-eighth  with  each  doubling  of  fre- 
quency, etc.  Consequently,  the  higher 
the  number  of  poles  a  filter  possesses, 
the  higher  the  rate  of  attenuation 
within  the  stopband. 

The  filter  design  information  con- 
tained in  the  filter  handbooks  is  gener- 
ally in  a  normalized  format.  These 
tables  contain  the  values  for  capacitors 
and  inductors  for  low-pass  fillers  fed 
from  a  one  ohm  impedance  source,  ter- 
minated in  one  ohm  at  the  output,  and 
with  a  -3  dB  point  of  l/2n  Hz.  This 
information  is  given  for  Bessel, 
Chebychev,  and  Butterworth  filter  shapes 
containing  any  given  number  of  ca- 
pacitors and  inductors.  From  this  nor- 
malized information,  it  is  possible  to 
derive  component  values  for  passive 
filters  of  any  -3  dB  frequency,  whether 

Continued  on  page  28 


-V-A  NYE  VIKING 

3KW  ANTENNA  TUNER 


Miq.  ti  Amateur  Radio  Aflffftfflfflflffft 

Tuners.Telegraph  keys,  Filters  and  mora. 

write  for  a  free  catalog  and  dealer  info. 

WM.  M.  NYE  COMPANY  INC. 

PO  BOX  1877,  PRIEST  RIVER  ID  83856 

(208)  448-1 762 

Fax  (208)  448-1 832 

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SHAPE 


input 


Butterworth 


0.1  dB  Chebychev 
0.3  dB  Chebychev 
1 .0  dB  Chebychev 
3.0  dB  Chebychev 


1-0 
0 
0 

o 

0 


1.414 
1.414 
1.404 
1.383 
1.301 
1.063 


0.707 
1.414 
0.829 
0.935 
1.195 
1.819 


R 


output 


1.0 
1.0 

1.0 
1.0 
1.0 
1.0 


Table  1.  Normalized  filter  coefficients  for  two-pole  filters. 


> 


Output  Signal 


X2 


RoLtput 


73  Amateur  Radio  Today  *  March  1 999    27 


L 


> 


■II- 


..,. 


hMl«fmtf 


'     ■ 


Hg.  2.  Two-pole  Salivn-Key  high-pass  filter. 

Everyman's  Guide 
to  Active  Filter  Design 

continued  from  jkiqv  27 

of  lo\wpass,  high -pass,  band-pass  or 
band-stop  types. 

]  have  included  Tables  I  through  4, 
which  contain  normalized  low-pass  fil- 
ter component  values  for  filters  con- 
taining two  through  five  total 
capacitors  and  inductors,  in  frequency 
responses  having  Ressel,  Butterworth. 
0.!,  03,  L0,  and  3,0  dB  passband 
ripple  Chebychev  curves,  (Notice  that 
for  the  two-  and  four-pole  filters,  val- 
ues are  listed  for  an  input  impedance 
of  rem  ohms.  This  is  because,  for 
mathematical  reasons,  even-num- 
bered-pole  Chebychev  filter  responses 
cannot  be  attained  with  equally-termi- 
nated filters.} 

So  much  for  theory!  Are  we  ready 
to  do  some  real  designing? 

The  most  common  type  of  active  fil- 
ter is  depicted  in  Fig,  1.  It  is  a  two-pole 
low-pass  type,  with  two  resistors,  two 
capacitors,  and  an  op  amp.  This  very 
simple,  easy-to-design  circuit  is  re- 
ferred to  as  a  ""Sal ten-Key"  filter,  after 


i> 


Dsf>wtS|ftJ 


its  inventors.  To  convert  from  the  nor- 
malized, low-pass  values  of  Table  1  to 
an  actual  working  filter,  we  select  the 
shape  of  the  filter  desired  (Butterworth, 
Chebychev,  or  Bessel)  using  the  sin- 
gly-terminated values.  After  selecting 
the  value  of  the  -3  dB  cutoff  frequency, 
f  JdB,  the  value  of  capacitor  C,  is  given 
bv: 


Ci  — 


X, 


4it-R-f  job 


and  the  value  of  C,  is  given  by: 

X: 


C-  = 


H  *  R  •  f  -  MB 


Let's  try  designing  a  3  kHz, 
Butterworth  low-pass  Filter,  such  as 
might  be  used  in  an  SSB  receiver  cir- 
cuit. From  Table  I,  we  see  that  the 
normalized  value  for  X  is  K414,  and 
the  value  for  XJs  0.707.  With  a  little 
algebraic  manipulation  of  the  equa- 
tions above,  we  obtain: 


C?       4-X: 

Thus,  we  see  that  for  these  values  of 
X,  and  Xr,  C{  +  C^=  1/2.  Approximat- 
ing this  ratio  using  common  junk  box 


values  of  0.001  jiF  and  0,0022  fiF  for 
C,  and  C.  respectively,  we  can  work 
back  to  obtain  R: 


R  = 


4it-Crf   Jdu 


1.414 


-=    37.4  kn 


12.6-10"  F-3000  Hz 

This  is  not  a  standard  resistor  value, 
but  wc  mav  use  the  next  closest.  36 
k£l,  which  is  less  than  4%  off 

That  was  easy  enough!  With  these 
formulas  and  a  calculator,  anyone  can 
design  a  low-pass  filter.  Now,  hou 
about  a  high-pass  filter?  Just  as  easy! 
For  the  Sallen-Kcy  topology,  a  low- 
pass  filter  can  be  transformed  into  a 
high-pass  filter  simply  by  exchanging 
the  resistors  and  capacitors,  The  same 
formulas  hold  true — just  exchange  the 
Rs  and  Cs!  See  Fig,  2: 


R.= 


4 K  ■  C  •  f  -  ;jh 


and 


R:  = 


X 


W-C*f-* 


m 


Lets  try  designing  a  300  Hz,  two- 
pole  Butterworth  high-pass  filter.  If  we 
pick  C  =  0.01  |iF,  then  from  the  equa- 
tions immediately  above,  R,  =  37.4 
ka  and  R;  -  75,0  k£I 

The  Sallen-Kcy  active  filter  circuit  is 
widely  used  for  two- pole  filter  imple- 
mentation. If.  however,  a  filter  with 
more  than  two  poles  is  required,  the 
design  procedure  for  a  Sallen-Key  cir- 
cuit implementation  becomes  much 
more  difficult.  Therefore,  other  circuit 


SHAPE 


R 


input 


x. 


x. 


8essel 

Butterworth 

0.1  dB  Chebychev 

0.15  dB  Chebychev 

0.3  dB  Chebychev 

1 .0  dB  Chebychev 

3.0  dB  Chebychev 


1.0 
1.0 
1.0 
1.0 
1.0 
1.0 
1.0 


1.557 

1.0 
1.435 
1.523 
1.686 
2.217 
3.352 


1.027 
2.0 
1.594 
1.523 
1 

1.090 
0.713 


0.511 
1.0 
1.435 
1.523 
1.686 
2.217 
3.352 


1.0 
1.0 
1.0 
1.0 
1.0 
1.0 
1.0 


> 


'ZX1e_    I—s 


XJ 


<7 


icumui 


Table  2.  Normalized  filter  coefficients  for  three-pole  filters. 
28   73  Amateur  Radio  Today  •  March  1999 


R1 


\jl  Input  Signal 


S7 


-VNA 


HI 


Jy^- 


R? 


[  Signal 


Fig.  3.  Two-pole  low-pass  filter  using  Norton  op  amps  in  leapfrog  topology. 


topologies  can  be  considered  for  these 
higher-order  filters. 

At  this  point,  an  introduction  to  a 
very  useful  op  amp  is  appropriate.  This 
is  the  Norton  op  amp*  of  which  the 
type  LM3900  is  the  most  commonly 
used  example.  Whereas  conventional 
op  amps  amplify  the  difference  in  volt* 
age  applied  to  their  inputs,  the  Norton 
amplifier  amplifies  the  difference  in 
current  applied  to  the  input  pins.  The 
input  pins  of  a  Norton  op  amp  have 
low  impedance  to  ground,  and  so  can 
be  considered  current  sinks — the  only 
caveat  being  that  the  input  currents 
cannot  be  negative.  Further,  the 
LM3900  Norton  op  amp  is  designed  to 
operate  from  a  single  supply  voltage, 
so  it  is  well  suited  for  application  in 
portable,  12- volt-operated  equipment. 

Fig*  3  depicts  the  Norton  op  amp 
configured  in  a  two-pole  low -pass  fil- 
ter constructed  in  what  is  referred  to  as 
a  leapfrog  topology.  Here,  each  ca- 
pacitor or  inductor  in  the  passive  filter 
prototype  circuit  is  replaced  by  an  op 
amp,  a  capacitor,  and  two  (or  three)  re- 
sistors. The  beauty  of  the  leapfrog  fil- 
ter topology  is  that  the  formulas  for 


calculating  component  values  are  very 
straightforward,  allowing  anyone  with 
a  hand  calculator  and  filter  tables  to 
design  a  high-order  active  filter  While 
leapfrog  filters  can  be  constructed  us- 
ing conventional  op  amps,  to  imple- 
ment a  given  filter  it  requires  50% 
more  op  amps  and  resistors  than  with 
Norton  op  amps.  So  for  this  discussion, 
we  shall  use  Norton  amplifiers. 

We  can  now  use  this  basic  circuit  to 
derive  a  series  of  equations  to  allow 
the  design  of  an  active  filter.  Selecting 
normalized  filter  values  from  Table  1, 
2, 3,  or  4  and  cutoff  frequency,  f  3dB,  we 
then  select  a  capacitor  value  for  use 
throughout  the  filter 

Unlike  resistors,  high-precision  ca- 
pacitors are  not  always  easily  avail- 
able.  However,  capacitors  of  the  same 
value,  from  the  same  manufacturing 
run,  are  usually  matched  in  value  unit-to- 
unit  better  than  the  stated  tolerance,  and 
so  can  be  used  to  obtain  the  necessary 
precision. 

We  refer  to  Fig*  3,  The  first  op  amp 
models  the  action  of  the  first  inductor 
in  the  passive  low-pass  circuit.  The 
value  of  Rl  is  defined  as; 


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SHAPE 

input 

x, 

X, 

*3 

*4 

output 

Besse! 

0 

1.540 

1.114 

0.855 

0.400 

1.0 

1.0 

1.736 

1.629 

0.780 

0,613 

1.0 

Butterworth 

0 

1.532 

1.581 

1.087 

0,389 

1.0 

1.0 

0.766 

1.850 

1.850 

0.766 

1.0 

0.1  dB  Chebychev 

0 

1.516 

1.776 

1.461 

0.675 

1.0 

0.2  dB  Chebychev 

0 

1.503 

1.819 

1.503 

0.706 

1.0 

0.3  dB  Chebychev 

0 

1.485 

1.853 

1 .527 

0.822 

1.0 

1.0  dB  Chebychev 

0 

1.377 

2.053 

1.519 

1.129 

1.0 

3.0  dB  Chebychev 

0 

1.102 

2.635 

1.281 

1.793 

1.0 

Table  3.  Normalized  filter  coefficients  for  four-pole  filters. 


R  input  X1 

i         *\sv 


^\ij  InpLif  Sicjl*! 


X3 


X2 


"> 


X7 


u 


S7       S7 


Outpwl  Signal 
Routput 


73  Amateur  Radio  Today  •  March  1999    29 


^^M 


R.= 


X, 


2  71  *  C  *  f  -  >jr 


If  the  filter  is  doubly  terminated 
(i.e.,  having  a  resistor  at  the  input),  this 
first  capacitor  is  paralleled  by  a  resis- 
tor equal  to  R( 

The  second  section  of  the  filter  mim- 
ics the  action  of  the  capacitor  and  re~ 
sistor  at  the  filter  output.  The  value  of 
resistor  R,  used  in  this  section  is  given 
by: 


R_  = 


X 


2  K  "  C  *  f      IdQ 


At  this  point  check  to  see  that  these 
values  are  realistic — try  to  keep  any 
values  of  R  between  33  klJ  and  3.3 
M£2  for  best  filter  performance  using 
the  LM3900.  If  not  adjust  the  value  of 
C  accordingly,  and  try  again. 

This  same  technique  can  be  ex- 
tended to  filters  containing  any  num- 
ber of  poles.  For  a  filter  with  more 
than  two  poles,  we  simply  cascade 
successive  sections,  as  is  shown   in 


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> 


Quput  Slprwl 


Fig*  4.  Five-pole  low-pass  filter  using  leapfrog  topology. 


Fig,  4.  Lefs  try  a  more  complicated 
example:  a  five-pole  low-pass  filter 
having  a  0.21-dB-ripple   Chebychev 

response,  and  a  3  kHz  cut-off  fre- 
quency. Let  us  also  pick  C  to  equal 
0.0022  jiF.  From  Table  4?  we  see  that 
the  five-pole,  0.2 1-dB-ripple  Chebychev 

has  the  unique  property  that  four  of 
the  five  component  values  in  the  nor- 
malized filter  are  the  same.  This  makes 
the  design  procedure  very  easy,  as  we 
only  need  to  calculate  two  component 
values! 

Using  our  very  firs!  preceding  equa- 
tion to  calculate  RM  R„  R,,  and  R.: 

2  I  5 


Ri  —  R:  —  R4  —  Rj  — 


X: 


2n  *  C  ■  f  -  idR 


1.475 

6. 2S-2.2- 10^.3  kHz 


=  35.6  Kl 


or  the  next  closest  standard  value.  36  kQT 
Recall  that  for  this  equally-terminated 


filter*  both  the  first  and  last  capacitor 
in  the  circuit  are  paralleled  by  a  resis- 
tor of  this  value. 
We  calculate  R.  the  same  way: 


R^  = 


X 


2n  *  C  *  f  -  vh 


2.3*>3 


-9 


6.28-2.2-I0    -3kHz 


=  57.4kn. 


or  56  k£X  the  closest  standard  value. 

This  information  should  provide  the 
average  ham  with  the  ability  to  design 
pretty  much  any  filter  he  might  need. 
This  article  is  in  no  way  an  attempt  to 
cover  this  topic  fully — there  are  entire 
texts  on  the  design  of  filters — and 
there  is  a  limit  to  the  quantity  of  mate- 
rial that  can  be  presented  in  a  maga- 
zine format.  However,  here's  a  starting 
point  from  which  the  novice  filter  de- 
signer may  proceed  on  his  own.  Have 
fun — it's  easy! 


SHAPE 

inpiil 

x, 

x, 

* 

x, 

x5 

^output 

Bessel 

1.0 

0.318 

0.877 

0.809 

2,417 

0.953 

10 

Butterworth 

1.0 

0.631 

1.604 

2.032 

1,604 

0.631 

10 

0,1  dB  Chebychev 

1,0 

1.298 

1.564 

2.230 

1.564 

1.298 

1.0 

0.21  dB  Chebychev 

1,0 

1.475 

1475 

2.394 

1.475 

1.475 

1.0 

0.3  dB  Chebychev 

1  0 

1,600 

1.406 

2.495 

1,406 

1.600 

1.0 

1.0  dB  Chebychev 

1.0 

2.207 

1.130 

3.104 

1130 

2.207 

to 

3.0  dB  Chebychev 


10 


3.483       0J63       4.540 


'■■■:■• 


X4 


Infldi  J-  _!_  I  c 


\7 


$ 


Ontpi*1  HfMl 

It,,    ,>|    Ml 


S7       S7 


Table  4.  \0rmali2ed filter  coefficients  for  five-pole  filters. 
30   73  Amateur  Radio  Today  •  March  1999 


Number  31  on  your  Feedback  card 


Keys  to  Good  Code 

Unlocking  the  secrets  of  sending  precise  Morse  code. 


BobShraderW6BNB 

11911  Barnett  Valley  Road 

Sebastopol  CA  95472 

[w6bnb@aol.com] 


Have  you  noticed  how  some  op- 
erators send  CW  (Morse 
Code)  so  that  every  letter  and 
word  is  unmistakable,  while  others 
send  so  many  words  that  are  hardly 
readable?  There  are  lhkrI  reasons  for 
the  tatter  difficulty  and  some  simple 
remedies.  But  first,  there  are  six  de- 
vices to  discuss,  all  of  which  have 
been  or  arc  being  used  lo  send  CW. 
These  are  the: 

( 1 )  straight  key,  or  hand  key; 

(2)  sideswiper  key,  cootie  key,  or 
double  key; 

(3)  semiautomatic  key,  or  bug; 

(4)  electronic  keyer; 

(5)  Boehme-head  type  machines;  and 

(6)  keyboards  and  computer  circuitry. 

Ail  of  these  can  be  used  to  send  per- 
fect or  nearly  perfect  code,  but  in 
many  cases  the  code  does  not  come  out 
all  that  well.  I've  spenl  many  years 
teaching  hundreds  of  operators  how  to 
send  both  the  International  and  the 
American  Morse  codes,  and  I  hope  the 
information  in  this  article  will  help  ev- 
er}' reader  improve  his  or  her  sending. 

The  straight  key 

The  original  and  simplest  key  is  the 
straight  key,  also  known  as  a  hand  key. 


It  is  used  to  send  at  slower  speeds,  usu- 
ally in  the  five  to  18  word-pcr- minute 
(wpm)  range.  With  skilled  operators,  it 
can  put  out  very  good  20  lo  25  wpm 
code.  There  were  some  very  skilled 
operators  in  the  past  who  could  vibrate 
their  hand  and  fingers  in  such  a  way  as 
to  send  at  35  wpm!  However,  there  are 
few  people — if  anyone — who  can  do 
this  anymore.  A  speed  of  25  wpm  is  re- 
ally pushing  it  with  a  straight  key  for 
most  operators.  A  side  view  of  a  basic 
straight  key  is  shown  in  Fig*  1.  Push- 
ing the  knob  down  closes  the  keying 
contacts  that  are  normally  connected 
to  the  keying  circuit  in  a  transmitter,  or 
possibly  to  a  practice  oscillator,  The 
contact  gap  should  be  about  1  millime- 
ter (mm),  a  little  less  than  1/16  of  an 
inch.  This  is  the  key  for  anyone,  begin* 
ner  or  old-timer,  who  wants  to  learn  to 
send  code  correctly.  It  was  widely  used 
by  professional  shipboard  radio  opera- 
tors because  it  produced  the  easiest  to 
copy  CW  through  QRK  or  over  long 
distances  and  because  it  provided  no  dif- 
ficulty when  the  ship  was  rolling.  It 
should  be  the  first  key  to  be  mastered  by 
anyone,  because  it  is  the  best  one  with 
which  to  learn  to  hear  and  understand 
the  extremely  important  requirement 


of  proper  spacing  between  dots  and 
dashes*  letters  and  words. 

Spacing 

If  there  is  any  one  most  important 
thing  to  learn  about  sending  CW,  it  is 
proper  spacing.  There  is  probably  only 
one  chance  in  perhaps  10  that  opera- 
tors (you?)  space  properly.  If  the 
proper  spacing  is  not  used,  a  receiving 
operator  may  not  be  able  to  guess  what 
is  being  transmitted.  There  is  nothing 
more  discouraging  to  hear  than  a  string 
of  well-made  letters,  with  no  spacing 
to  indicate  where  one  word  stops  and 
another  starts! 

The  theory  of  the  timing  of  dots  and 
dashes  is  simple  enough.  The  length  of 
a  "dot"  is  the  basic  time  element  or 
"unit"  of  code  sending.  A  "dash"  is 
three  units  long,  never  two,  although 
four  or  even  more  is  quite  readable  to 
the  human  ear  (long  dashes  can  give 
the  code  its  well-touted  and  interesting 
"swing."  but  computers  hate  it).  The 
spacing  between  a  dot  and  a  dash  in  a 
word  is  one  unit  long.  The  spacing  be- 
tween any  tuo  letters  in  a  word  is  three 
units  long.  The  spacing  between  any 
two  words  is  seven  units.  Between  the 
end  of  a  word  and  a  comma  or  period 

73  Amateur  Radio  Today  •  March  1999    31 


PUSH  UP 
SPRING 


a 


TO  XMTR 
KEYING 
CIRCUIT 


ITACTS 

KNOB 


^^ 


TTTT 


BASE 


Fig.  L  Ess&nttuts  of  a  straight  key. 

there  should  be  three  units,  not  seven 
units,  Punctuation  marks  should  be 
spaced  as  they  would  be  when  typing 
them  on  a  keyboard. 

A  good  practice  to  develop  a  feeling 
for  spacing  for  anyone  trying  to  learn, 
or  to  improve  sending,  is  to  make  a  let- 
ter and  then  with  your  little  finger  tap 
the  desktop  before  sending  the  next 
letter  of  that  word.  Between  any  two 
words,  tap  the  finger  twice  on  the 
desktop.  Later,  after  you  develop  rea- 
sonable speed  and  ability,  only  tap  the 
desktop  between  wordy.  Eventually 
the  sense  of  proper  spacing  will  be  in- 
grained in  the  subconscious  and  no 
more  desktop  tapping  should  be  neces- 
sary. By  that  time,  each  letter  should 
be  made  as  one  simple  or  complex 
sound  A  10-letter  word  should  be 
heard  as  10  simple  or  complex  sounds, 
all  forming  one  tied-together  complex 
group  of  sounds,  with  no  audible  long 
(or  lack  of)  spacing  anywhere. 

Using  the  straight  key 

A  desirable  way  of  using  a  straight 
key  is  to  place  the  tip  of  the  first  finger 
on  the  key  knob  at  a  position  of  about 
12  o'clock,  with  the  thumb  lightly 
touching  the  underside  of  the  knob  at 
about  seven  o'clock.  Flip  the  three 
other  fingers  downward  about  halfway 
to  the  desktop,  This  should  close  the 


HACKSAW 

BLADE 


CONTACT 
GAP 


J   PADDLE 


INSUtATED 

FROM  METAL 

BASE 


Fig.  2.  Essentials  of  a  sideswiper  key. 

32    73  Amateur  Radio  Today  »  March  1999 


key  and  open  it  again  as  the  fingers 
swing  back  upward.  Note  that  the  wrist 
will  push  upward  as  the  fingers  go 
down.  This  is  a  correct  way  to  make  a 
dot,  If  the  wrist  goes  down  when  the 
key  goes  down  it  is  the  arm  that  is  do- 
ing the  keying.  Fingers  are  so  much 
less  tiring  to  use!  (I  once  sent  mes- 
sages with  a  straight  key  for  five  hours 
with  no  stopping,  from  the  Yangtze 
River  to  San  Francisco,  after  my  ship 
was  bombed — but  that's  another  story.) 
Flip  the  fingers  downward  twice  rapidly 
for  two  dots.  Three  times  for  three 
dots,  etc.  Practice  making  some  eight- 
dot  groups.  All  dots  should  come  out 
with  equal  timing.  Note  the  wrist:  Make 
sure  it  goes  up  when  the  fingers  go 
down. 

To  make  dashes,  flip  the  fingers 
downward  farther  and  hold  the  knob 
down  for  at  least  three  times  as  long  as 
with  dots.  Practice  making  dashes  in 
groups  of  eight  or  more.  Note  the  wrist 
action  with  dashes — it  should  move 
farther  upward  than  when  making  dots. 

Practice  making  a  string  of  10  dot- 
dash  (•-•_■-)  groups  strung  to- 
gether. Then  practice  making  a  string 
of  10  dash-dot  (-•-•-  *)  groups 
strung  together.  The  next  practice  is  10 
•■-•*-  groups  strung  together.  Then 

10 *  —  •  groups.  This  exercise 

will  provide  practice  in  starting  and 
making  most  letters  and  numbers, 

I  assume  that  you  already  know  the 
International  Morse  code.  Here  are 
some  practice  exercises  for  learning  to 
send  letters,  words,  sentences,  and 
numbers.  Concentrate  particularly  on 
spacing  properly. 

A  QUICK  BROWN  FOX  JUMPS 
OVER  THE  LAZY  DOG,  1234567890. 

PACK  MY  BOX  WITH  FIVE 
DOZEN  LIQUOR  JUGS,  098765432 L 

These  two  lines  contain  all  of  the 
English  letters  and  numbers,  plus  com- 
mas and  periods.  When  you  can  send 
these  correctly  with  proper  spacing  be- 
tween letters  and  words,  with  no  hesi- 
tation anywhere  (which  takes  quite  a 
while),  try  sending  them  backward. 
When  this  can  be  done  both  forward 
and  backward  without  any  errors,  you 
should  be  able  to  send  fairly  well  with 


a  straight  key!  With  a  beginner  the 
speed  may  be  only  five  or  six  wpm. 
With  practice,  the  speed  should  come 
up  to  well  over  10  wpm,  and  eventu- 
ally to  perhaps  1 6  to  20  wpm.  To  com- 
pute code  speed,  five  normal  letters 
plus  a  space  is  considered  one  word.  If 
the  standard  word  PARIS  can  be  sent 
10  times  in  60  seconds,  with  proper 
spacing  between  words,  the  sending 
speed  is  10  wpm. 


The  sideswiper 


This  is  a  very  old  but  simple  form  of 
a  speed  key,  first  used  by  American 
Morse  railroad  telegraphers,  probably 
sometime  around  the  mid-1 800s.  It  is 
far  easier  to  operate  than  a  straight  key 
and  with  it  the  code  can  be  sent  about 
50%  faster.  It  is  also  called  a  ""cootie 
key;5*  and  sometimes  a  "double  key," 
because  it  works  like  two  straight  keys 
fastened  bottom  to  bottom.  The  origin 
of  the  term  cootie  key  seems  to  be  un- 
known, but  very  possibly  had  some  tie- 
in  with  the  "bug"  first  used  as  a 
symbol  on  early-day  Vibroplex-  semi- 
automatic keys. 

A  double  key  can  be  constructed  by 
using  two  straight  keys,  fastened  base 
to  base,  and  mounted  at  90°  from  their 
normal  position.  Another  way  to  make 
a  sideswiper  key  is  to  mount  a  three- 
inch  piece  of  hacksaw  blade  solidly  at 
one  end,  so  the  free  end  can  swing 
back  and  forth  between  two  fixed  con- 
tacts at  its  near  end.  An  insulating-ma- 
terial paddle  should  be  fastened  to  the 
free  end  of  the  hacksaw  blade.  A  top 
viewr  of  a  basic  sideswiper  key  is 
shown  in  Fig.  2.  If  a  metal  base  is 
used,  the  right-hand  and  left-hand  con- 
tacts must  be  insulated  from  it.  The 
gaps  between  both  fixed  contacts  and 
the  flexible  arm  should  each  be  about 
one  millimeter  with  the  ami  in  its 
resting  position. 

To  operate  a  sideswiper  key,  the  first 
finger  presses  the  paddle  toward  the 
thumb  to  make  the  flexible  arm  hit  the 
stationary  left  contact.  (Explanations 
are  for  right-handed  operators,  Lefties 
will  know  what  they  should  dov)  A 
quick  motion  in  that  direction  makes  a 
dot.  If  the  contact  is  held  at  least  three 
times  longer,  a  dash  is  made.  An  ap- 
preciation of  the  difference  in  time 


between  a  dot  and  a  dash  learned  with 
a  straight  key  is  important.  The  finger 
could  be  used  to  key  dots  and  dashes 
the  same  way  as  is  done  with  a  straight 
key,  but  with  a  sideways  instead  of 
up-and-down  motion. 

Now  comes  the  interesting  part!  The 
thumb  can  press  toward  the  First  finger, 
moving  the  paddle  to  the  right  against 
the  right-hand  contact.  If  it  makes  only 
a  quick  movement,  it  will  produce  a 
dot.  If  the  contact  is  held  three  times  as 
long  it  will  make  a  dash,  Code  can  also 
be  sent  horizontally  with  the  thumb 
this  way.  To  send  the  letter  "A,"  which 
is  dot-dash,  the  first  finger  can  make 
the  dot  and  the  thumb  can  immediately 
be  pressed  in  the  opposite  direction  to 
make  the  dash.  However,  if  the  thumb 
is  used  to  make  the  dot,  the  first  finger 
must  immediately  be  pushed  to  the  left 
to  make  the  dash!  Every  letter  or  num- 
ber can  be  started  by  either  the  thumb 
or  the  finger!  It  is  up  to  the  operator  to 
be  able  to  make  the  proper  length  dots 
and  dashes  whether  they  are  being 
made  by  thumb  or  finger.  Care  must  be 
taken  to  maintain  all  spacings  prop- 
erly. These  are  tricky  keys  to  use.  The 
straight  key  should  be  mastered  first  to 
ensure  properly- learned  spacings. 
Sideswiper  keys  usually  produce 
heavy  dots.  If  you  like  challenges, 
make  yourself  a  sideswiper  and  try 
sending  with  itl 

The  semiautomatic  key 

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the  semiautomatic  key,  or  bug,  was  de- 
veloped. It  has  been  made  in  many 
forms  by  many  people  and  companies. 
Most  of  these  keys  are  made  to  operate 
horizontally,  but  some  operate  verti- 
cally. Basically,  a  bug,  which  seems  to 
be  a  generic  term  used  today  for  semi- 
automatic keys,  is  somewhat  like  a 


WEIGHT 


VIBRATING 
ROD  DAMPER 


VIBRATING 
ROD 


DAMPER 
STOP 


PIVOT 


5PRING 


PADDLE 


DASH 
CONTACTS 


Fig.  3.  Essentials  of  a  semiautomatic  key. 


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73  Amateur  Radio  Today  ■  March  1 999   33 


sideswiper  key,  but  is  much  better  than 
the  simple  old  cootie  key.  A  top  view 
of  a  basic  bug  is  shown  in  Fig.  3, 
When  the  first  finger  is  pressed  against 
the  paddle,  it  can  be  worked  the  same 
as  the  first  finger  on  a  sideswiper  key 
to  make  dashes.  A  horizontal  form  of 
straight  key  sending  can  also  be  pro- 
duced with  the  first  finger  as  with  a 
cootie  key. 

When  the  thumb  is  pressed  against 
the  paddle,  it  moves  the  near  end  of  the 
main  pivoted  bar  or  shaft  to  the  right. 
The  far  end  of  the  bar  moves  to  the  left 
because  of  the  pivot.  Attached  to  the 
main  bar  on  the  far  side  of  the  pivot  is 
a  short  piece  of  spring  steel;  attached 
to  the  end  of  that  is  the  weighted  vi- 
brating rod.  As  the  weighted  rod  vi- 
brates from  side  to  side,  it  makes  and 
breaks  a  connection  as  its  springed 
contact  hits  and  rebounds  from  the 
fixed  dot  contact,  thereby  producing  a 
series  of  dots.  So,  the  thumb  deter- 
mines how  many  dots  are  made  and 
the  first  finger  must  make  all  of  the 
dashes.  It  is  up  to  the  operator  to  deter- 
mine how  long  to  make  the  dashes  so 
that  they  are  at  least  three  times  the 
length  of  the  dots,  It  takes  a  trained  ear 
to  do  this,  an  ear  that  is  usually  devel- 
oped by  properly-learned  straight  key 
operating. 

As  long  as  receiving  operators  are 
copying  by  ear,  I  onger-than- normal 
dashes  will  sound  OK,  but  short  dashes 
will  produce  a  poor-sounding  code.  The 
spacing  between  the  dash  contacts,  and 
the  travel  between  the  bar  to  the  dot- 
stop  when  the  paddle  is  pushed  to  the 


right,  should  both  be  about  one  milli- 
meter. The  thumb  and  finger  should 
travel  reasonable  distances  and  strike 
the  paddle  fairly  hard,  (This  wras  very 
important  when  bugs  were  used  on 
ships  during  times  when  the  seas  were 
heavy  and  the  ship  was  rolling.) 

Where  the  movable  weight  is  placed 
on  the  vibrating  rod  determines  the 
speed  of  the  rod  vibrations  and  there- 
fore the  speed  of  the  dots,  The  farther 
the  weights  are  out  toward  the  far  end 
of  the  vibrating  rod,  the  slower  the  vi- 
brations ...  and  the  slower  the  dots. 
You  will  find  that  if  the  stationary  dot 
contact  is  moved  up  against  the  vibrat- 
ing contact  so  that  only  about  10  to  12 
dots  are  made  before  the  dot  contacts 
settle  into  a  constant  contact,  the  dots 
will  be  made  at  a  desirable  hearing 
length.  Theoretically,  the  space  be- 
tween dots  should  equal  the  dot  length. 
However,  for  the  receiving  operator  it 
is  better  if  the  dots  are  a  little  longer 
than  the  space  between  them.  These 
are  known  as  "heavy  dots/'  As  men- 
tioned before,  "light  dots"  mean  that 
the  space  is  longer  than  Lhe  dots,  re- 
sulting in  poor- sounding  code  that 
may  also  be  hard  to  read  at  a  distance 
or  under  poor  conditions,  and  may  not 
be  read  properly  by  computer  key- 
boards. 1  recommended  that  a  bug  not 
be  tried  before  learning  to  space  prop- 
erly with  a  straight  key  first. 

Most  good  bug  operators  send  and 
receive  in  the  20  to  35  wpm  range. 
High-speed  bug  operators  may  get  up 
into  the  40  to  50  wpm  range.  Some 
may  think  they  are  operating  their  bugs 


DRIVE 
HOLES 


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Q 


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SECOND  FINGER 

in    fer 
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Q 

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O  <  O 

Q  Q  Q 

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FIRST  FINGER 
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lb] 


fig.  4.  (a)  "ENTER  'punched  onto  a  Boehme-head  tape,  (b)  'ENTER  "  inked  onto  a  slip 
tape. 

34   73  Amateur  Radio  Today  *  March  1999 


correctly  at  these  higher  speeds,  but  if 
checked  with  "Lslip  tape"  (explained 
later) s  most  will  find  that  their  spacing 
is  almost  always  rather  poor.  If  they 
were  using  an  electronic  keyer  their 
letter  spacings  might  be  much  better. 

The  electronic  kever 

To  improve  on  the  vibrating  dots  of 
bugs,  which  usually  have  some  varia- 
tion between  the  first  and  last  dots  in 
letters  like  H  or  the  numeral  5,  there 
were  many  magnetic  vibrator-type  bugs 
built  in  the  early  decades  that  worked 
fairly  well  Around  the  1950s,  it  was 
found  that  vacuum  tube  vibratory  cir- 
cuits could  be  used  to  produce  perfect 
dots*  spaces,  and  dashes.  Then  the 
small  size  and  low  voltages  needed  to 
operate  transistors  allowed  them  to 
take  over  the  modern  types  of  elec- 
tronic keyers.  There  are  a  variety  of 
these  devices  available  today,  Basic 
electronic  keyers  are  improved  semi- 
automatic keys.  They  use  a  square- 
wave  electronic  oscillator  to  produce 
perfect,  constant-speed  dots  and  spaces 
when  the  paddle  is  pushed  by  the 
thumb.  They  use  the  same  oscillator 
with  divide-down  counter  circuits  to 
produce  perfect,  constant  one-third- 
speed  dashes  (three  times  longer).  The 
operator  of  this  type  of  key  does  not 
have  to  worry  about  the  length  of  dots 
or  dashes — -just  the  spacing  between 
dots  and  dashes  in  letters,  the  spacing 
between  letters,  and  the  spacing  be- 
tween words,  When  the  control  is  ad- 
vanced to  increase  the  oscillator  fre- 
quency, it  makes  dots,  spaces,  and 
dashes  faster. 

An  electronic  keyer  is  basically  two 
devices.  One  is  the  keyer  paddle  unit, 
and  the  other  is  the  electronic  circuits 
unit,  with  its  oscillator,  dividers,  and 
other  circuitry,  The  basic  keyer  paddle 
unit  is  essentially  the  same  as  a 
sideswiper,  except  that  it  uses  two 
separate  contact  leads  plus  the  paddle- 
arm  lead  ( usually  at  ground  potential), 
all  of  which  are  fed  to  the  electronic 
circuits  in  the  device.  (Some  of  the 
electronic  keyer  paddle  units  can  be 
connected  to  work  a  sideswiper  key.) 
Again,  1  recommend  that  an  electronic 
keyer  not  be  used  before  learning  to 
operate  a  straight  key  properly.  An 


electronic  keyer  can  produce  the  per- 
fect sending  once  produced  only  by 
the  old-time  commercial  Boehme-head 
code  machines. 

The  Boehme-head-type  machines 

The  Boehme-head  and  other  similar 
machines  were  used  from  the  1920s  to 
the  1960s  to  transmit  perfect  high- 
speed radio  code.  They  were  nicely 
machined  little  units  about  six  inches 
square  and  two  inches  thick,  driven  by 
an  adjustable-speed  electric  motor. 
Their  punched  waxed-paper  tapes 
were  produced  on  a  special  typewriter- 
like keyboard  tape-punching  "perfora- 
tor*1 machine.  The  letters  punched  into 
these  transmitting  tapes  came  out  as 
properly  spaced  holes.  Boehme-head 
machines  sent  their  perfect  code  at 
speeds  determined  by  the  driving 
motor's  speed.  Code  at  well  over  100 
wpm  was  easily  produced. 

The  tapes  they  used  had  three  sets  of 
holes  punched  into  them  by  the  perfo- 
rator. The  center  perforations  were 
drive  holes  used  to  pull  the  tape  along 
over  two  little  pins  that  were  alter- 
nately pushed  up  and  pulled  down 
against  the  moving  tape  from  under- 
neath, One  pin  was  on  one  side  of  the 
center  holes;  the  second  was  directly 
across  the  tape  on  the  other  side  of  the 
driving  holes.  When  the  first  pin  came 
to  a  punched  hole,  it  would  move  up 
through  its  hole,  starting  an  electrical 
connection.  When  the  first  pin  went 
back  down  and  the  second  pin  pushed 
up,  if  this  pin  also  found  a  hole  in  the 
tape  it  would  move  up  through  it> 
which  shut  the  electric  connection  off, 
thereby  keying  a  dot  for  the  transmit 
ter.  If  the  first  pin  went  up  through  a 
hole  and  started  an  electric  connection, 
but  the  second  pin  found  no  hole,  there 
was  nothing  to  shut  off  the  keying  cir- 
cuit. When  the  first  pin  came  up  again, 
it  could  do  nothing  since  the  electric 
connection  was  still  made,  However,  if 
the  second  pin  came  up  again  and 
found  a  hole  to  go  through,  it  shut  off 
the  electric  circuit.  In  this  case,  since 
there  were  three  pin  motions  between 
the  start  and  the  stopping  of  the  elec- 
tric circuit,  it  would  key  an  electric  cir- 
cuit duration  three  times  as  long  as 
was  keyed  for  a  dot,  resulting  in  a  dash 


being  sent.  Fig,  4(a)  shows  a  five- letter 
word  punched  onto  a  Boehme-head 
tape. 

Tapes  were  usually  punched  and  fed 
into  a  tall  box.  They  were  then  either 
wound  on  a  spool  or  were  fed  back 
into  a  second  box  so  that  the  first 
punched  material  was  available  to  feed 
into  the  Boehme-head  machine.  When 
slower-speed  transmissions  were  to  be 
made,  the  tapes  could  be  punched  by 
the  operator  and  fed  directly  into  the 
Boehme-head,  although  with  a  couple 
of  feet  of  sag  in  the  tape  so  that  the 
Boehme-head  machine  would  not  get 
ahead  of  the  tape  puncher. 

Slip-tape  machines 

Dot  and  dash  tones  received  on  radio 
receivers  could  be  rectified,  and  the 
current  developed  by  them  could  mag- 
netically pull  an  inked  pen  up  and 
down  on  a  moving  unwaxed  paper 
"slip-tape"  machine.  With  no  signal 
being  received,  a  straight  line  would 
be  drawn  by  the  pen  along  the  bottom 
of  the  tape.  When  a  dot  was  received, 
the  ink  pen  was  pulled  up  and  then  fell 
down  at  the  end  of  the  received  dot, 
producing  a  narrow  vertical  pulse  on 
the  slip- tape,  as  shown  in  Fig,  4(b). 
When  a  dash  was  received,  the  line 
was  pulled  up  but  was  held  there  for 
the  duration  of  the  received  dash  be- 
fore dropping  back  down.  Operators 
ran  the  slip-tape  along  the  front  of 
their  typewriter  at  a  speed  controlled 
by  a  foot  pedal,  usually  at  greater  than 
a  40- wpm  reading  speed.  The  received 
letters  and  spaces  were  visually  recog- 
nized and  typed  as  letters  and  words 
on  the  typewriter  keyboard. 

Using  a  s  Lip-tape  device  is  probably 
the  best  way  to  check  radio  code  send- 
ing. Any  dot,  dash,  letter,  or  spacing 
made  improperly  is  shown  visually 
and  permanently,  allowing  scrutiny 
and  analysis.  I  have  used  such  a  device 
to  graphically  illustrate  to  students 
what  they  were  doing  wrong  with  their 
sending  (but  I  also  had  to  demonstrate 
to  them  what  proper  sending  should 
look  like), 

Before  computer-programmed  key- 
boards were  developed  in  the  late  1970s, 
some  Boehme-head  machines  were  used 
on  the  amateur  bands.  Boehme-heads 


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73  Amateur  Radio  Today  *  March  1 999   35 


produced  perfect  code,  but  they  used 
up  an  awful  lot  of  paper  tape! 

The  computer  keyboard 

When  a  computer  keyboard  (KB) 
operates  v\  itli  a  Morse  Code  software 
program,  plus  a  data  controller  unit  to 
key  the  transmitter,  it  is  capable  of  pro- 
ducing code  transmissions  as  perfect 
as  that  from  a  Bochme-head  machine, 
Besides  not  requiring  the  handling  of 
dozens  of  yards  of  paper  tape  in  one 
busy  evening,  a  computer  keyboard 
system  has  no  moving  parts  other  than 
the  KB  itself,  and  is  soundless.  The 
monitor  screen  of  the  computer  shows 
the  letter  and  words  being  typed  and 
transmitted.  The  program  can  be  ad* 
justed  to  transmit  Morse  code  at  any 
speed  desired,  from  very  slow  to  very 
fast  With  such  systems  in  common 
use,  amateurs  can  easily  produce  per- 
fect code  practice  transmissions  at 
high  speed.  As  a  result,  some  amateurs 
have  learned  to  copy  in  their  heads  up 
to — and  even  above — 100  wpm!  At 
such  speeds  they  are  probably  learning 
to  recognize  many  whole  words,  such 
as  "the/'  as  complex  sounds  instead  of 
hearing  their  separate  letters.  They 
copy  in  their  heads  because  trying  to 
type  out  copy  at  speeds  near  1 00  wpm 
is  quite  difficult 

I  highly  recommended  that  all  CW 
operators  learn  to  copy  in  their  heads 
as  soon  as  they  find  they  can  write 
down  most  of  what  thev  hear.  It  is  re- 
ally  the  only  way  to  enjoy  CW  com- 
municating. Those  who  talk  down 
Morse  code  operating  have  probably 
never  learned  how  much  fun  it  can  be 
when  Morse  code  is  copied  properly. 
Commercial  operators  copy  in  their 
heads  but  always  type  several  letters 
behind  those  being  sent.  This  way,  if 
the  sending  operator  makes  a  mistake 
in  sending,  the  error  sign  that  is  sent 
stops  the  receiving  operator  and  the 
improper  letters)  is  not  typed  onto  the 
message  blank.  Copying  behind  by 
several  letters  is  the  sign  of  a  good 
radio  operator 


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With  a  proper  software  program, 
computers  can  also  be  used  to  copy 
code  off-the-air  and  display  it  on  the 
screen.  But  the  code  must  be  sent  al- 
most perfectly.  There  is  a  little  latitude 
in  the  length  of  dots,  spaces,  and 
dashes,  but  not  a  lot,  If  hand  sending  is 
not  nearly  perfect,  the  displayed  copy 
may  not  be  very  good.  With  computer- 
ized transmission  and  reception,  as- 
suming no  QRM  or  QRN.  the 
displayed  copy  of  previously  typed  in- 
formation held  in  memory  can  be  per* 
feet  to  well  over  100  wpm.  Printouts 
ma}'  also  be  made  of  what  is  shown  on 
the  screen. 

Few  amateurs  can  handle  a  KB  well 
enough  to  put  out  proper  code  at  50  to 
100  wpmT  so  real-time  transmissions 
made  at  such  high  speeds  usually 
sound  broken  up  to  listeners.  The  over- 
all transmission  speed  will  be  only  the 
typist's  typing  speed.  For  a  hunt-and- 
peck  keyboard  typist,  25  wpm  is  not  an 
uncommon  overall  sending  speed,  al- 
though the  letters  might  be  set  to  trans- 
mit at  50  wpm  or  more.  This  would  not 
be  considered  good  communications 
transmitting — the  result  sounds  jerky 
to  any  operator  listening  and  trying  to 
copy  the  transmission. 

Very  readable  computer  monitor  dis- 
plays can  be  produced  by  an  electronic 
keyer>  provided  the  transmitted  dot5 
dash  and  inter- word  spacings  arc  good. 

Keyboard  transmissions  are  expected 
to  sound  perfect,  but  if  words  arc 
mistyped,  are  misspelled,  or  if  they  are 
broken  up  with  unwanted  spaces  while 
desired  keys  are  being  looked  for,  poor 
copy  will  result  for  radio  operators 
who  are  trying  to  copy  by  ear  or  in 
their  heads.  To  produce  proper-sound- 
ing code,  KB  systems  should  not  be  set 
to  transmit  at  a  speed  faster  than  the 
typist  can  type  well. 

If  KB  transmission  circuitry  involves 
■  magnetic  relays,  there  is  the  possibility 
that  the  transmitted  dots  will  turn  out 
to  be  quite  light,  resulting  in  less-than- 
desirable  emissions.  Some  kevboard 
circuits  have  built-in  "weight"  controls 
by  which  the  length  of  dots  and 
dashes  can  be  adjusted  to  reduce  light 
dot  transmissions. 

Similar  KB  and  computer  equipment 
can  be  used  to  transmit  and  receive  ra- 
dio teletype  information  on  the  ham 


bands.  However,  many  old-timers  wax 
nostalgic  for  the  clatter  of  the  old  ma- 
chines and  the  yards  of  yellow  paper, 
or  printed  tape,  that  spewed  out  of  the 

machines. 

Some  very  new  amateur  transceivers 
have  been  developed  that  are  operated 
by  the  keys  on  a  KB  coupled  into  the 
transceiver.  There  are  no  dials  to  rotate 
to  select  frequencies.  All  of  the  func- 
tions of  sending  and  receiving  CW, 
RTTY.  packet,  etc.,  are  controlled  ci- 
ther with  the  KB  keys  or  with  a  mouse, 
CW  can  be  sent  by  using  the  keys  on 
the  KB,  or  by  plugging  in  any  type  of 
kev  desired  into  the  transceiver. 
Phone?  Just  plug  a  microphone  into 
the  transceiver. 

Punctuation 

Regular  amateur  CW  communica- 
tions use  very  few  punctuation  marks. 
The  exceptions  to  this  are  KB  commu- 
nications. Since  all  of  the  punctuation 
marks  are  available  on  all  keyboards, 
they  are  becoming  more  common. 

In  general,  amateurs  use  BT  as  an 
end  of  a  thought,  or  to  indicate  that  the 
sending  operator  is  thinking  about 
what  is  going  to  J^e_  sent  next.  (The 
overlining  of  the  BT  is  used  here  to 
mean  that  B  and  T  are  sent  together  as 
one  character  with  no  spacing  between 
them,  to  sound  like  dahdidididah.) 
Some  of  the  CW  punctuation  and  oper- 
ating signs  heard  on  the  bands  are: 

Period — AAA 


Comma— MFM  

Question  mark — I  MI 
Fraction-bar  or  slash — DN 

Quotation  marks-^AF         

Parenthesis— left  KN,  right  KK 
Dollar  sign — SX 


Apostrophe — WG 

Error  sign — HH 

End  of  a  message — AR 

End  ofaQSO— SK 

Wait— AS 

Stan  your  transmitting — K 

Received  OK— R 

The  key  to  the  key 

Regardless  of  the  type  of  device  an 
amateur  uses  to  produce  CW,  sending 
it  correctly  will  always  be  a  challenge. 
One  rule  never  changes,  though:  Practice 
makes  perfect! 


36   73  Amateur  Radio  Today  ■  March  1999 


73  Review 


Number  37  on  your  Feedback  card 


QRP  Temptations 

Here  3s  a  roundup  of  low-power  kits  out  there  today. 


Robert  S.  Capon  W3DX,  ex-WA3ULH 
107  Cavalier  Drive 
Charlottesville  VA  22901 

[w3dx@aol.com] 


Kit-building  continues  to  build  mo- 
mentum as  hams  rediscover  the 
joy  of  building  their  own  equipment. 
Such  enthusiasts  have  been  treated 
again  this  year  with  the  introduction  of 
two  major  multiband  transceivers,  and 
the  reintroduce  on  of  a  single-band 
transceiver  kit  with  an  important  new 
companion  course. 

This  article  describes  the  three  latest 
transceivers  that  have  become  available, 
along  with  a  roundup  of  my  favorite 
"classic"  kits. 

1  hope  you  11  discover  the  joy  of 
building  your  own  radio.  Your  knowl- 
edge of  amateur  radio  will  be  greatly 
enhanced,  and  you'll  discover  that  a 
QSO  made  on  a  home-brew  rig  is  more 
satisfying  than  10  QSOs  made  on  a 
commercial  transceiver. 

K2,  by  Elecraft 

The  K2  is  the  most  high-tech  ama- 
teur radio  transceiver  kit  known  to 
mankind;  it  was  designed  by  Wayne 
Burdick  N6K.R  and  Eric  Swartz 
WA6HHQ.  Wayne  is  known  primarily 
for  his  NorCal  QRP  Club  and  Wilder- 
ness Radio  designs,  including  the 
NorCal  40/40A,  Sierra,  and  SST  trans- 
ceivers, as  well  as  multifunction  acces- 
sories including  the  KC1  and  KC2.  He 
was  also  recently  inducted  into  the 
QRP  Hall  of  Fame.  Eric  is  a  talented 


engineer/entrepreneur  who  has  been 
involved  in  several  highly  successful 
startups  in  Silicon  Valley.  The  K2  is  a 
synthesis  of  their  different  styles,  em- 
phasizing both  big-rig  performance 
and  QRP  efficiency. 

The  K2  is  a  microprocessor-con- 
trolled 10-  through  160-meter  CW/ 
SSB  transceiver  with  a  built-in  digital 
display  and  a  dazzling  array  of  fea- 
tures more  typical  of  a  major  league 
commercial  rig.  These  include  a  PLL 
synthesizer;  dual  VFOs  capable  of 
working  split  frequency;  direct  keypad 
entry  of  frequencies  and  operating  pa- 
rameters; R1T/XIT;  10  memories  (each 
with  A/B  VFO  frequencies  and  other 
operating  settings);  back-lit  LCD;  built- 
in  speaker;  memory  keyer  with  mul- 
tiple message  buffers  and  auto-repeat; 
variable  CW  crystal  filter  (250  1200 
Hz);  and  bar  graph  S,  RF,  SWR  and 
ALC  meters.  Whew! 

The  K2  also  offers  an  optional  an- 
tenna tuner,  noise  blanker,  and  internal 
3  Ah  battery. 

The  radio  embraces  design  values 
and  objectives  that  are  common  to 
other  radios  designed  by  Wayne.  It  is 
small,  measuring  only  2.9  x  7.8  x  8.2 
inches,  and  can  be  configured  to  draw 
as  tittle  as  100  mA,  making  it  ideal  for 
use  on  Field  Day  or  on  battery-pow- 
ered expeditions.  The  radio  is  also 
ideal  for  fixed  station  use. 


Despite  the  robust  set  of  features  of- 
fered by  the  K2?  the  radio  was  de- 
signed for  ease  of  construction  and 
testing.  Like  the  Sierra,  the  radio  uses 
"no-wires"  construction,  with  most 
controls  mounting  directly  to  the  PC 
board.  The  user's  guide  is  written  with 
incremental  assembly  and  testing,  so 
that  modules  can  be  tested  in  stages, 
avoiding  the  dreaded  "smoke  test,"  In 
addition,  the  radio  has  built-in  test  equip- 
ment, so  the  K2  can  be  aligned  with  only 
a  digital  voltmeter.  The  K2  even  includes 
a  built-in  frequency  counter. 

There  are  so  many  novel  features  in- 
cluded in  the  radio  that  it  is  impossible 
to  adequately  summarize  them  in  this 
brief  article.  I  encourage  you  to  visit 
the  Elecraft  (that's  "ele"  as  in  "elegant") 

Continued  on  page  38 


Photo  A,  Elecraft 's  K2  transceiver* 

73  Amateur  Radio  Today  •  March  1999    37 


Photo  B.  The  SW+  series  is  made  by  Smcd! 
Wonder  Labs. 


Web  site  (see  URL  at  end)  for  more 
details. 

As  of  this  writing,  the  K2  was  being 
put  through  possibly  the  largest  and 
most  ambitious  field  test  program  ever 
used  with  an  amateur  radio  kit,  with 
dozens  of  builders  around  the  world 
(including  me)  interconnected  by  a 
discussion  group  over  the  Internet  set 
up  by  E  lee  raft 

The  K2  basic  configuration  sells  for 
$549,  Pricing  for  options  is  as  follows: 
SSB  with  speech  compressor,  S79; 
160-meter  with  second  receive  an- 
tenna, S29;  noise  blanker,  $29;  internal 
antenna  timer,  SI 25;  and  internal  2.9 
Ah  battery,  $79. 

OUR  500,  by  Oak  Hills  Research 

The  OHR  500  is  a  new  five-band 
CW  transceiver  for  intermediate  to  ad- 
vanced builders.  The  rig  is  an  upgrade 
of  the  classic  OHR  400  fourbaiuier. 
The  radio  is  excellent  as  a  base  station 
QRP  transceiver,  because  it  is  switch- 
selectable  for  operation  on  80T  40,  30, 
20,  and  15  meters,  and  band  changing 
is  thus  effortless-  The  OHR  500  conies 
with  a  built-in  analog  dial,  but  yon  can 
soup  it  up  with  the  companion  DD-1 
"digital  dial"  outboard  LED  display, 


Photo  C.  Wilderness  Radio  s  Sierra  model, 

38   73  Amateur  Radio  Today  ■  March  1999 


The  OHR  500  has  a  super  receiver 
with  QSK  and  a  diode  ring  mixer.  The 
radio  really  excels  at  copying  very 
light  signals.  But  the  OHR  500  is  not 
ideal  for  backpacking;  it  has  a  hefty 
cabinet  measuring  8.25  x  8*25  x  4 
inches  (weighing  almost  four  pounds), 
and  the  radio  draws  approximately  270 
mA  on  receive,  slightly  less  current 
than  its  predecessor. 

The  01 IR  500  comes  with  excellent 
documentation,  and  was  a  pleasure  to 
build.  I  really  took  my  time  with  the 
radio,  and  savored  the  experience  of 
building  the  kit.  The  radio  has  three 
printed  circuit  boards  that  mount  on  a 
solid  internal  aluminum  chassis.  The 
boards  are  the  oscillator,  receiver,  and 
transmitter.  Interconnecting  the  boards 
and  panel  components  is  accomplished 
with  approximately  40  point-to-point 
color-coded  wires.  Again,  the  docu- 
mentation for  performing  the  wiring  is 
first  class,  but  this  amount  of  wiring 
should  typically  not  be  attempted  by 
first-time  builders.  (Oak  Hills  offers 
the  OHR  100,  which  is  ideal  for  begin- 
ners— see  below.)  The  OHR  500  has 
built-in  RF  probes,  so  the  unit  can  be 
aligned  with  a  digital  voltmeter  and  an 
accurate  frequency  source  such  as  the 
companion  DD-!  digital  dial. 

The  OUR  500  features  RIT,  AGC, 
narrow  CW  filter,  and  full  QSK,  and 
delivers  5  to  7  watts  on  all  bands  ex- 
cept for  15  meters,  where  it  delivers 
3,5  wratts.  The  kit  conies  with  a 
punched  and  screened  enclosure,  jacks 
and  knob  set,  and  silk-screened  primed 
circuit  boards.  It  has  many  nice  finish- 
ing touches,  including  a  phono  jack  on 
the  back  with  VFO  output  for  hooking 
up  the  digital  dial,  a  front  panel  power 
level  control,  and  an  LED  lamp.  How- 
ever, the  radio  does  not  include  a 
built-in  speaker. 

The  OHR  500  retails  for  $349,  and 
digital  dial  sells  for  $74. 


SW-40+,  by  Small  Wonder  Labs 

The  SW-  transceiver  series  is  a  mod- 
est single-band  radio  with  a  bold  new 
mission:  The  kit  is  now  available  with 
the  "Elmer  101"  course  published  by  the 
Northern  California  QRP  Club.  The 
course  enables  the  SW+  to  become  a 
laboratory  for  learning  the  fundamentals 
of  amateur  radio  design  and  kit-building. 


The  l-lmer  101  course  comes  in  the 
form  of  an  82-page  book  published  by 
NorCal  as  the  club's  "Autumn  1998 
QRPp  Special  Issue/5  The  book  pro- 
vides step-by-step  lessons  for  building 
the  SW+T  instructions  for  testing  the 
kit  as  you  build,  circuit  theory  and 
analysis,  and  test  bench  procedures. 

The  course  is  filled  with  experi- 
ments, so  that  builders  can  see  the  re- 
sults of  changes  in  parts  values  and 
circuitry;  it  also  incorporates  in-depth 
questions  and  answers. 

The  SW+  is  a  single-band  trans- 
ceiver for  either  80,  40,  30.  or  20 
meters.  The  rig  features  a  superhet  de- 
sign with  crystal  filtering.  The  radio 
delivers  approximately  2.5-3  W  out- 
put, and  draws  a  meager  1 6  mA  on  re- 
ceive. Construction  uses  a  double-sided 
silk-screened  circuit  board,  and  requires 
modest  wiring  to  connect  the  case 
components. 

In  addition  to  the  "Elmer  101" 
course,  the  SW+  series  has  been  up- 
dated and  re-designed,  and  features  a 
new  optional  enclosure.  The  new  de- 
sign resulted  in  the  number  of  toroids 
dropping  from  eight  to  five. 

Congratulations  to  NorCal  and  Small 
Wonder  Labs  for  teaming  up  to  create 
this  robust  kit-building  laboratory. 

The  SW+  transceivers  retail  for  S 55, 
and  the  optional  enclosure  sells  for 
$35.  Small  Wonder  Labs  sells  an  op- 
tional RIT  for  $18,  and  an  optional 
"FREQ-Mite"  PIC-based  Morse  fre- 
quency counter  device  for  $20. 

Oldies  but  goodies 

In  addition  to  the  new  kits  above,  be 
sure  to  think  about  building  one  of 
these  great  "classic"  projects: 

WM-2  QRP  Wattmeter,  by  Oak 
Hills  Research 

The  WM-2  measures  forward  and 
reflected  power,  with  power  ranges  of 
10W,  1  W,  and  1 00  m W.  The  WM-2 
replaces  the  WM- 1 .  The  WM-2  comes 
in  a  smaller  package,  and  provides  us- 
ers with  the  option  of  using  a  battery 
or  an  external  13.8-volt  source.  $84. 

OHR  100A,  by  Oak  Hills  Research 

The  OHR  1 00A  is  a  series  of  single- 


Photo  D.  TheNorCal40At  aisoby  Wilderness. 

band  transceiver  kits  for  either  40,  30, 
or  20  meters,  covering  70  kHz  of  each 
band.  The  radio  features  RTF,  AGC, 
variable  bandwidth  CW  filter,  variable 
power  output,  and  full  QSK,  and  deliv- 
ers five  watts  output,  a  full  QRP  "gal- 
lon" which  is  useful  for  Field  Day.  The 
Jrit  is  excellent  for  first  time  builders. 
It  features  a  silk- screened  printed  cir- 
cuit board,  screened  and  punched  en- 
closure, simple  wiring  using  Molex 
connectors,  and  on-board  DC  test 
points,  so  that  the  radio  can  be  aligned 
without  an  oscilloscope,  $1 19. 

Logikeyer  HI  Memory  Keyer,  by 
Idiom  Press 

The  latest  in  the  Logikeyer  series, 
the  Logikeyer  111  now  features  six 
memory  locations  and  nonvolatile 
storage  memory  in  EPROM.  The  post- 
age-stamp-size Logikeyer  III  has  a  ro- 
bust array  of  superlative  keying  features 
and  options,  such  as  automatic  sequenc- 
ing of  serial  numbers  for  contests.  $58. 

Sierra,  by  Wilderness  Radio 

The  Sierra  is  a  multiband  superhet 
transceiver  with  up  to  nine  inter- 
changeable band  modules  for  opera- 
tion on  10-160  meters.  Despite  its 
tremendous  sophistication,  the  Sierra 
also  has  characteristics  that  make  it  an 
excellent  kit  for  intermediate  builders. 
The  jacks  and  switches  mount  directly 
to  the  board,  so  there  is  no  point-to- 
point  wiring.  The  Sierra  is  ultra  por- 
table, measuring  only  5,5  x  6,5  x  2.5 
inches  (weighing  less  than  two 
pounds),  and  has  an  extremely  low 
current  drain  of  35  mA.  So  the  Sierra 
is  ideal  for  portable  and  backpacking 
use,  and  ideal  for  battery  operation  and 
Field  Day.  The  Sierra  features  RITt 


AGCt  variable  bandwidth  CW  filter, 
and  full  QSK,  and  delivers  two  to  three 
watts  output  on  all  bands.  The  kit 
comes  with  a  punched  and  screened 
latched  enclosure,  jacks  and  knob  set, 
and  silk-screened  printed  circuit 
board.  $295  for  the  baste  kit  with  three 
band  modules. 

NorCal  40A,  by  Wilderness  Radio 

The  NorCal  40A  is  an  ideal  kit  for 
beginners.  The  jacks  and  switches 
mount  directly  to  the  board,  so  there  is 
no  point-to-point  wiring,  making  the 
radio  very  easy  to  build.  I  assembled 
mine  in  just  two  evenings,  The  NorCal 
40  comes  in  a  tiny  4  x  4  x  2-inch  en- 
closure  (weighing  less  than  one 
pound)  with  a  very  snazzy  two-tone 
blue  paint  job.  The  kit  comes  with  a 
punched  and  silk-screened  latched  en- 
closure, jack  and  knob  set,  and  a  first- 
class  silk-screened  printed  circuit 
board-  This  40  meter  superhet  CW 
transceiver  has  been  optimized  for  ex- 
tremely low  current  drain  of  only  15 
mA  on  receive.  The  radio  features  RIT, 
AGC,  400  Hz  CW  filter,  and  full  QSKf 
and  delivers  three  watts  output.  Wil- 
derness offers  another  ideal  kit  for  be- 
ginners, the  two-watt  Super  Simple 
Transceiver  (SST),  which  comes  in  an 
even  smaller  enclosure  than  the 
NorCal  40A.  The  NorCal  40 A  sells  for 
$129,  while  the  SST  sells  for  $85. 

KC2,  by  Wilderness  Radio 

The  KC2  is  a  multifunction  acces- 
sory with  an  LCD  digital  frequency 
counter,  memory  keyer,  S-meter,  and 
wattmeter!  Measuring  only  LI  x  2,9 
inches  and  drawing  only  seven 
milliamps,  the  KC2  has  become  the 
first  accessory  that  I  put  in  each  of  my 
home-brew  QRP  rigs.  The  KC2  has  a 
respectable  memory  keyer,  but  lacks 
the  dazzling  array  of  keying  features 
(like  automatic  sequencing  of  serial 
numbers)  found  in  the  Logikeyer  III, 
Keyer  memories  are  stored  in  nonvola- 
tile memory;  however,  memories  do 
not  have  separate  buttons  for  each  par- 
tition. The  KC2  is  an  ideal  companion 
to  the  Sierra,  and  Wilderness  Radio  of- 
fers a  replacement  front  panel  for  the 
Sierra  to  accommodate  the  LCD  display. 
$75. 


Photo  K  Wilderness* Super  Simple  Tmnscewer 
(SST). 


Automatic  QRP  I\iner»  by  LDG 

This  novel  kit  is  a  subminiature  au- 
tomatic antenna  tuner  for  QRP  opera- 
tion. Measuring  5  x  6.5  x  1.3  inches, 

Continued  on  page  40 


1 


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CIRCU-  64  ON  READER  SERVCE  CARD 

73  Amateur  Radio  Today  *  March  1 999    39 


QRP  Temptations 

continued  from  page  39 

and  weighing  in  at  only  15  ounces 
(with  enclosure),  the  tuner  is  able  to 
tune  most  antennas  to  an  SWR  of  bet- 
ter than  1.5:1  in  less  than  1,5  seconds. 
The  device  is  microprocessor-con- 
trolled, and  uses  tiny  relays  to  switch 
toroids  and  capacitors  to  achieve  a 
match.  The  LDG  tuner  features  a  built- 
in  SWR  meter  using  a  bank  of  four 
LED  lamps.  $125  with  enclosure.  If 
you  want  to  install  the  tuner  inside 
your  favorite  radio,  it's  available  with- 
out the  enclosure  for  $100  and  tips  the 
scales  at  only  four  ounces. 

I  hope  this  article  encourages  you  to 
build  your  First  amateur  radio  kit,  Why 
not  discover  the  joy  of  making  a  con- 
tact or  working  a  new  DXCC  country 


on  a  radio  that  you  made  yourself? 
Happy  building! 

This  article  is  dedicated  to  the 
memory  of  Ernie  Schnitz  (SK)  AD4VA, 
who  assisted  me  with  the  on-air  testing 
of  many  of  my  kit  projects. 

Sources 

Oak  Hills  Research 
20879  Madison  Street 
Big  Rapids  MI  49307 
(616)796-0920 
[http://www.ohr.com] 

Idiom  Press 

Box  1025 

Geyserville  CA  95442-1 025 

Elecraft 
P.O.  Box  69 


AptosCA  9500 1-0069 

(831)662-8345 

[http://www.elecraft.com] 

LDG  Electronics 

1445  Parran  Road 

St.  Leonard  MD  20685 

(410)586-2177 

[http://ldgelectronics.com] 

Wilderness  Radio 

PO.  Box  734 

Los  Altos  C A  94023-0734 

(415)494-3806 

[littp://www.fix.net/jparker/wild.html] 

Small  Wonder  Labs 
80  East  Robbins  Avenue 
NewinetonCT  06111 
[http://www.fix.net/^jparker/sml/ 
freqniite.htm] 


QRH 

continued  from  page  8 

Snyder  and  two  others  on  suspicion  of  attempted 
murder. 

The  newspaper  reported  that  Snyder  had  a 
string  of  previous  convictions,  and  his  driver's  li- 
cense had  been  suspended.  The  injured  motor- 
ist was  treated  at  a  Los  Angeles  area  hospital. 

From  The  Orange  County  Register  and  the 
ARRLr  via  The  Minuteman,  newsletter  of  the 
MMRA  {Marlboro,  Massachusetts),  Andy 
Morrison  N1BHL  editor. 


"Worst  Blizzard 
Since  1978" 


A  major  winter  storm  paralyzed  much  of  the 
Midwest  over  the  past  New  Year's  holiday.  Heavy 
snow  that  accumulated  to  more  than  a  foot  be- 
gan falling  on  New  Year's  Day,  The  accompany- 
ing winds  caused  drifts  of  up  to  three  feet  in  some 
locations.  On  top  of  that,  warming  temperatures 
on  Saturday  afternoon,  January  2nd,  caused  the 
snow  to  turn  to  rain.  Then  the  temperatures 
dropped  again  below  30°  F,  causing  the  formation 
of  ice  that  evening. 

This  scenario  caused  officials  in  southwest 
Ohio  to  issue  a  Level  3  Emergency  Alert.  Under 
a  Level  3  Emergency  Alert,  all  non-essential 
motorists  are  ordered  to  keep  off  highways,  under 
threat  of  arrest  and  vehicle  confiscation. 

Even  in  the  worst  bEizzard  conditions,  there  are 
some  people  whose  jobs  are  essential;  hospital 
workers,  for  example,  must  get  to  work.  The 
Kettering  Medical  Center  Amateur  Radio  Associa- 
tion, near  Dayton,  Ohio,  was  called  out  to  assist 

40    73  Amateur  Radio  Today  •  March  1999 


with  communications  and  logistics  of  moving 
essential  hospital  personnel  to  the  hospital  facil- 
ity: amateurs  with  four-wheel-drive  vehicles  par- 
ticipated in  transporting  hospital  personnel  or 
rode  with  non-amateur  volunteers  to  provide 
them  with  communications. 

The  Kettering  Medical  Center  was  not  the  only 
hospital  needing  assistance.  Green  County  Me- 
morial Hospital,  in  nearby  Xenia,  requested  the 
assistance  of  X-WARN — the  Xenia  Weather 
Amateur  Radio  Network.  Green  County  amateur 
radio  operators  with  four-wheel-drive  vehicles  lent 
a  hand  to  transport  hospital  personnel  to  and  from 
work.  Green  County  Memorial  Hospital  in  Xenia 
requested  assistance  and  half  a  dozen  ham-ra- 
dio-equipped vehicles  were  pressed  into  service, 
along  with  amateurs  at  the  hospital  who  acted 
as  communications  officers.  In  Springfield,  Ohio, 
the  Clarke  County  ARES  provided  amateur  radio 
assistance  to  Mercy  and  Community  Hospitals. 

In  Clarke  County,  Springfield  radio  amateurs 
were  out  on  the  roads  transporting  hospital  and 
rest  home  personnel.  In  one  case,  they  trans- 
ported a  kidney  dialysis  patient  home  after  treat- 
ment. In  addition  to  driving  their  own  four- 
wheel-drive  vehicles,  amateurs  also  manned  the 
Clarke  County  Emergency  Communications  Center 

Ten  inches  of  blowing  snow  and  freezing  rain 
put  Indiana  into  a  state  of  emergency,  too.  By 
early  Saturday  morning,  January  2,  most  Hoo- 
sier  counties  had  declared  snow  emergencies, 
forcing  people  to  stay  home.  Roads,  airports  and 
shopping  malls  were  closed. 

Local  hospitals  declared  a  need  for  drivers  with 
four-wheel-drive  vehicles  to  transport  dialysis 
patients  to  and  from  local  hospitals.  Many  cen- 
tral Indiana  amateurs  met  the  need— not  only  with 
the  vehicles — but  with  communications  during  the 
first  trying  hours  of  the  storm, 

Indiana  State  RACES  Coordinator  Dave 


Crockett  WA9ZCE  said  that  weather  and  road 
reports  were  updated  using  high-frequency  ama- 
teur radio  links,  Most  of  the  affected  midwestern 
states  found  the  MID-CARS  Net  an  efficient  way 
to  share  vital  road  and  weather  conditions,  As 
one  amateur  radio  operator  put  it:  "It's  nice  to 
know  that  amateur  radio  can  still  get  out  when 
your  local  world  comes  to  a  sliding  halt.11 
From  Newsline,  Bill  Pasternak  WA6ITF,  editor. 


Swiss  No-Code 


Switzerland's  national  amateur  radio  society 
has  done  an  about-face  on  the  Issue  of  abolishing 
Morse  code  testing. 

Last  November  the  society's  journal  published 
a  statement  regarding  the  code..  It  said  that  Morse 
code  testing  in  the  amateur  service  no  longer 
serves  any  useful  purpose. 

The  commentary  by  the  Swiss  angered  the 
neighboring  Germans.  Their  Deutscher  Ama- 
teur Radio  Society— the  DARC— was  more 
than  a  little  uneasy  about  the  Swiss  society's 
position  and  made  its  displeasure  widely 
known. 

After  some  discussion,  the  Swiss  have  backed 
away  and  issued  a  new  statement.  This  one  says 
that  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  national  soci- 
ety have  not  yet  reached  any  definitive  decision 
on  the  future  of  Morse  testing. 

But  even  here  there  seems  to  be  a  bit  of 
controversy,  because  last  November's  maga- 
zine article  was  the  result  of  a  vote  at  the  an- 
nual meeting  of  the  organization's  regional 
presidents. 

At  that  gathering,  all  of  them  voted  to  urge  the 
abolishment  of  code  exams. 

From  Newsline.  Bill  Pasternak  WA6ITR  editor, 


Number  41  on  your  Feedback  card 


Spec  ml  euents 


Listings  are  free  of  charge  as  space  permits.  Please  send  us 
your  Special  Event  two  months  in  advance  of  the  issue  you 
want  it  to  appear  in.  For  example*  if  you  want  it  to  appear  in 
the  June  issue r  we  should  receive  it  by  March  31 \  Provide  a 
clean  concise  summary  of  the  essential  details  about  your 
Special  Event 


MAR  13,  23,27 

ST.  LOUIS  COUNTY,  MO  All-Day 
SKYWARN  Weather  Observation 
Training  will  be  offered  by  the  St. 
Louis  County  Police,  Office  of 
Emergency  Management,  Sat, 
March  13th.  and  Sat.  March  27th. 
SKYWARN  Level  1  classes  will  be 
presented  in  the  morning,  and 
classes  resume  in  the  afternoon 
with  the  Level  2  program.  Level  1 
classes  are  also  available  on  the 
evening  of  March  23rd.  For 
locations,  call  the  Severe  Weather 
info  Une,  (314)  889-2857.  for  a 
taped  message  and  additional 
info.  All  are  welcome,  including 
those  from  outside  the  area.  Free 
parking.  Certificatron  provided  for 
R.A.C.E.S.  and  SKYWARN,  all  at 
no  cost.  One  need  nol  be  a  ham 
radio  operator  to  attend  and 
participate  in  the  program. 

MAR  14 

INDIANAPOLIS,  IN  The  Indiana 
Hamfest  &  Computer  Show  will  be 
held  at  Indiana  State  Fairgrounds, 
Indianapolis  IN.  See  adver- 
tisement in  Jan.  73,  page  59,  or 
Feb.  73,  page  27. 

STERLING,  IL  The  Sterling-Rock 
Falls  ARS  39th  Annual  Hamfest 
will  be  held  at  the  Sterling  High 
School  Fieldhouse,  1608  4th  Ave. 
Free  parking,  including  areas  to 
accommodate  self-contained 
campers  and  self-contained 
mobile  homes.  There  will  be  a 
large  indoor  flea  market  featuring 
radfo,  electronic,  computer,  and 
hobby  items.  Tickets  are  $3  m 
advance.  $4  at  the  door.  Tables 
are  $5  without  electricity,  $6  with 
electricity,  Bring  your  own  cord. 
Setup  Sat,  6  p,m.-9  p.m.  and  on 
Sun.  beginning  at  6  a<m.  Doors 
open  to  the  public  at  7:30  a.m. 
Sun.  Use  only  the  north  doors  on 
Miller  St.  Talk-in  on  146.25/.85 
W9MEP  rptr.  For  mfo  and  advance 
tickets/tables,  contact  Lloyd 


Sherman  KB9APW,  Sterling-Rock 
Falls  ARS,  P.O.  Box  52 1  Sterling 
IL  61081-0521;  or  call  (815)  336- 
2434.  E-maif  [Isherman^essexi. 
com}.  Advance  ticket  deadline  is 
Man  1  st.  Please  include  an  SASE 
with  payment. 

MAR  20 

STUART  FL  The  Martin  County 
ARA  will  hold  its  23rd  Free 
Hamfest  on  March  20th  at  the 
Martin  County  Fairgrounds  in 
Stuart,  Free  admission,  free  tail- 
gaters.  generous  prizes.  MCARA 
supports  an  active  recruiting, 
training,  and  testing  program  for 
new  amateurs,  and  supports  the 
scholarship  program  for  amateur 
students.  For  more  info,  contact 
the  MCARA.  P.O.  Box  1901  Stuart 
FL  33495, 

MAR  20-21 

MIDLAND,  TX  The  Midland  ARC 
will  hold  then  annual  St.  Patrick's 
Day  Hamfest  on  March  20th  and 
21st  from  9  am-S  p.m.  on  Sat.h 
and  from  8  a,m,-2:30  p.m.  on 
Sun.,  at  the  Midland  County 
Exhibit  Building.  Features  include 
a  flea  market,  dealers,  tailgate 
area,  T-hunts,  and  a  full  service 
concession  stand  with  hot  meals. 
VE  exams  will  be  given  at  1  p.m. 
on  Sat  Pre*regfstratron  is  S7t  $8 
at  the  door.  Tables  are  $12  each 
for  the  first  four,  and  S1 7  for  each 
additional  table  over  four  Contact 
the  Midland  ARC,  P.O.  Box  4401 1 
Midland  TX  79704;  or  E-mail  Larry 
Nix  N5TQU  at  [oiiman@ix.netl 
You  can  also  see  a  hamfest  flyer 
and  download  a  registration  form 
at  [http:IIwww.lx. netledgel 

MAR  21 

JEFFERSON,  Wl  TheTri-County 
ARC  will  present  'Hamfest  1999" 
at  the  Jefferson  County  Fairgrounds 
Activity  Center,  Highway  18  West, 
Jefferson  Wl.  8  a.m. -2  p.m. 


Vendors  admitted  at  7  a.m.  VE 
exams  for  new  licensees  and 
upgrades.  Electricity  available. 
Equipment  test  table.  Handicap 
accessible.  Talk-in  on  the  145.49 
rptr  Admission  $4.  Six-foot  table 
S5,  eight-foot  table  S6,  To  reserve 
tables,  send  your  SASE  to 
TCARC.  W9MQB,  711  East  St, 
FL  Atkinson  Wt  53538.  Phone 
(920)  563-6502  eves.;  E-mail 
{tricountyarc@globatdialog,  com}. 

MAUMEE,  OH  The  Toledo  Mobile 
Radio  Assn.  will  hold  the  44th 
Annual  Hamf est/Computer  Fair  8 
a.m.  -2  p.m.  at  the  Lucas  County 
Recreation  Center,  2901  Key  St, 
Maumee  OH.  For  details  send 
SASE  to  Paul  Hanslik  N8XDB, 
PO.  Box  273,  Toledo  OH  43697- 
0273.  Phone:  (419)  243-3836. 

HAMILTON  TOWNSH IP,  N  J  "Ham- 
comp  '99*  hamfest  will  be 
sponsored  by  the  Delaware  Valley 
Radio  Assn..  and  held  at  the  Tall 
Cedars  of  Lebanon  picnic  grove. 
Sawmill  Rd.,  Hamilton  Twp.,  NX 
Take  1*95  North  to  1-295  South; 
exit  60A  to  1-195  East:  exit  2  to 
Yardville:  South  Broad  St.  to  end. 
approx.  3.7  miles:  go  left  at  Yield 
onto  Old  York  Rd.T  next  right  onto 
Sawmill  Rd,  The  site  is  1.1  miles 
on  the  right.  Open  to  sellers  at 
6:30  a.m.  Open  to  buyers  at  8  a.m. 
Admission  is $6,  non-ham  spouses 
and  children  admitted  free. 
Tatlgating  space  $10,  includes  one 
admission.  Free  parking,  ARRL 
table.  Covered  table  space  S15, 
includes  one  table  and  one 
admission,  some  electricity. 
Advance  covered  space  reserva- 
tions are  available.  Talk-in  on 
146.67(-J.  More  info  available  at 
(609)  882-2240  or  [www.slac.comi 
w2zql  Send  payment  with  SASE 
to  Hamcomp  99.  DVRA,  P.O.  Box 
7024.  West  Trenton  NJ  08628. 

YONKERS,  NY  The  Westchester 
Emergency  Communications  Assn. 
will  hold  its  annual  winter 
"WECAFEST"  at  the  Yonkers 
Raceway.  Yonkers  NY.  I-87  from 
the  north,  exit  4.  t-87  from  the 
south,  exit  2.  Doors  will  be  open 
from  8  a,m.-2  p.m,  Admission  S7< 
Features  include  new  and  used 
equipment,  venders,  forums,  VE 
exams,  demonstrations,  and  a 
tech  table.  Talk-in  on  the  WECA 
rptr.  147.66/06  PL  114.8  (2a), 
Contact  Tom  Raffaeili  WB2NHC. 
(914)  741-6606;  or  the  WECA 
Weh  site  at  [WWW.  WECA.  ORG}. 


MAR  27 

MICHIGAN  CITY,  IN  The  annual 
Michigan  City  Hamfest  and 
Computer  Flea  Market  will  be  held 
Sat.  Mar  27th  at  Michigan  City 
High  School,  8466  W  Pahs  Rd.. 
Michigan  City  IN,  8  a.m.-1  p.m. 
CST  Early  setup  provided  for 
vendors.  Admission  is  $4,  children 
under  12  admitted  free  with  a  paid 
adulL  Table  reservations  and 
general  info  is  available  from  Ron 
Stahoviak  N9TPC,  5802  N  400  W, 
Michigan  City  IN  46360.  Phone 
(219)  325-9089. 

WATERFORD,  CT  The  Radio 
Amateur  Society  of  Norwich  will 
sponsor  their  27th  Ham  Radio 
Auction,  starting  at  10  am.  Setup 
at  9  a,nr  The  auction  will  be  held 
at  the  Waterford  Senior  Center, 
From  Hartford,  take  RL  2  south  to 
Rt.  11  to  Rt.  85  south.  From  the 
shoreline,  take  Rt.  95  to  Rt.  85 
north.  Talk-in  on  146.730(-).  Bring 
your  gear  to  sell  {10%  commission 
to  RASON).  Free  admission.  Free 
parking.  Contact  Tony  AA  UN  at 
(860)  859-0162,  or  see  the  RASON 
Web  page  at  (www.ims.uconn. 
eduhrasonl 

MAR  23 

MADISON,  OH  The  Lake  County 
ARA  will  hold  its  21st  annual 
Hamfest  on  Mar.  28th,  8  a.m.-2 
p.m.,  at  Madison  High  School  on 
Burns  Rd.  in  Madison.  The  ham- 
fest will  feature  new  and  used 
amateur  radio,  computer,  and 
assorted  electronic  equipment, 
amateur-radio-related  forums,  an 
equipment  test  bench,  and  VE 
exams  for  those  interested  in 
earning  an  amateur  radio  license. 
Admission  tickets  are  $5  at  the 
door.  Table  space  for  vendors  is 
$8  for  a  six-foot  table;  $10  for  an 
eight-foot  table.  Reserve  tables  by 
calling  Roxanne  at  (440)  256- 
0320,  Talk-in  on  the  LCARA 
147.21  rptr. 

APR  10 

SPOKANE,  WA  The  Eastern 
Washington  Hamfest  and 
Electronic  Showf  hosted  by  the 
Lilac  City  ARC,  will  be  held  at 
Spokane  Community  College, 
1810  N.  Greene  St,  Spokane  WA. 
Open  9  a.m. -5  p.m.  Setup  Fri,  5 
p.m,-8  p.m.,  Sat.  6  a.m.-9  a.m. 
Advance  tickets  $5,  children  under 
12  free.  Eight-foot  seller's  tables 
S12.  10  x  10  commercial  booths 


73  Amateur  Radio  Today  •  March  1999    41 


Homing  in 


Number  42  on  your  Feedback  card 


Radio  Direction  Finding 


Joe  Modi  RE,  K0OV 
P.  O.  Box  2508 
Fulierton  CA  92837 
Horningin@aolxonn] 
iittp://members.aol.com/ 
homingin/] 


A  rechargeable  alternative 
and  the  dancing  buzz 

If  you're  going  to  have  a  hid- 
den transmitter  hunt,  the  first 
thing  you  need  is  a  transmitter 
to  hide.  Some  hams  call  it  the 
tbx  or  the  "bunny"  (not  to  be 
confused  with  the  pink  furry 
creature  beating  the  drum  on 
TV),  It's  more  fun  when  the  fox 
is  truly  hidden,  not  just  some- 
one sitting  in  a  car  with  a  big 
antenna  on  top.  That  means  you 
need  a  self-contained  transmit- 
ter/control ler/lDer  and  enough 
portable  power  to  keep  it  going 
(...  and  going  ...)  for  the  dura- 
lion  of  the  hunt. 

Fox  transmitters  are  not  one- 
size-fits-all.  For  a  Sunday-in- 


the-park  foxhunt  where  every- 
one starts  only  a  few  hundred 
feet  away,  a  micro-T  running  a 
few  milliwatts  and  concealed  in 
a  pill  bottle  or  soda  can  is  great 
fun.  At  the  other  extreme,  for  the 
multi-state  "All-Day"  hunts  in 
southern  California,  hidcrs  have 
used  big  beams,  600-watt  RF 
amplifiers,  and  gasoline  genera- 
tors. In  between  are  foxboxes 
using  ordinary  handie-talkies 
and  mobile  rigs.  The  usual 
source  of  power  for  them  is  a 
rechargeable  battery  pack  with 
either  nickel-cadmium  (NiCd) 
or  lead-acid  (Pb)  chemistry. 

Both  types  are  popular  be- 
cause they  store  lots  of  energy 
in  small  packages.  But  both  are 
plagued  with  high  rates  of  self- 


discharge,  especially  if  stored  at 
elevated  temperatures,  If  you 
don't  use  your  foxboxes  for  a 
few  weeks,  you'll  probably  find 
that  the  batteries  are  flat  when 
you  need  them,  or  they  operate 
for  only  a  few  minutes  and  quit. 
What's  more,  if  you  allow  a 
lead-acid  battery  to  sit  in  a  dis- 
charged state  for  a  few  weeks, 
it  becomes  "sulfated"  and  won't 
accept  recharging.  In  other 
words,  it  turns  into  an  expensive 
paperweight! 

NiCds  have  features  that 
make  them  the  most  popular 
choice  for  powering  portable 
ham  gear.  Terminal  voltage 
stays  relatively  constant  (about 
1 2  V/cell)  from  near  full  charge 
to  near  full  discharge.  They  can 
be  recharged  hundreds  of  times 
if  it's  done  properly.  Their  low 
internal  resistance  permits  high 
discharge  currents,  so  high 
power  handie-talkies  and  por- 
table soldering  irons  thrive  on 
them.  On  the  down  side,  such 
high  load  currents  can  cause  re- 
verse charging  and  cell  failure 
in  battery  packs  of  unevenly 
matched  cells,  when  the  pack  is 
operated  with  a  high  current 


load  in  the  near  discharge  state. 
NiCds  self-discharge  on  the 
shelf  and  in  the  drawer,  losing 
about  1  %  per  day. 

The  energy  available  from  a 
NiCd  or  Pb  cell,  or  pack  of  cells, 
is  specified  in  ampere-hours 
(Ah)  or  milliampere-hours 
(mAh).  It's  the  product  of  the 
current  and  time  that  is  available 
before  the  terminal  voltage  falls 
below  the  specified  discharge 
point.  For  instance,  a  1  Ah  ( 1 000 
mAh)  pack  can  be  expected  to 
drive  a  50  mA  load  for  20  hours. 
So  it  should  also  provide  1  A  for 
one  hour,  right?  Not  quite,  be- 
cause capacity  diminishes  some- 
what for  high-current  loads. 

NiCds  don't  tolerate  sus- 
tained overcharging,  which 
causes  dissociation  of  hydrogen 
and  oxygen  in  the  electrolyte 
and  opening  of  the  vent,  drying 
out  the  cell.  It  may  also  cause 
the  terminal  voltage  to  drop  to  a 
plateau  of  about  LI  volts  early 
in  the  next  discharge  cycle. 
When  that  happens,  the  effect 
is  often  mistakenly  termed 
"memory."  On  the  other  hand, 
true  memory*  brought  on  by  re- 
peated shallowr  discharges  to  the 


$60  (includes  one  additional 
person,  IM/C).  Some  features  are: 
dealers,  factory  reps,  seminars, 
VE  exams,  and  DXCC  field 
checking.  Contact  Warren  Kelsey, 
S.  1405  Crestline,  Spokane  WA 
99203.  Tel.  (509)  534-8443.  Make 
checks  payable  to  Litac  City  ARC. 
Talk-in  on  146.52  simplex  and 
147.32  rptr. 

APR  .10, 14 

ST,  LOUIS  COUNTY,  MO  SKY- 
WARN  will  offer  all-day  classes 
Sat.  April  10th,  with  Level  1 
training  in  the  morning  and  Level 
2  training  in  the  afternoon.  Level 
1  classes  will  also  be  held  the 
evening  of  April  14th,  For  loca- 
tions, call  the  Severe  Weather  info 
Line  at  (314)  889-2857,  for  a  taped 
message  and  additional  info. 
R,AX.E.S.  and  SKYWARN 
certification  is  provided  at  no  cost. 
Everyone  is  welcome.  Training  is 
sponsored  by  the  St  Louis  County 
Police,  Office  of  Emergency 
Management. 


APR  11 

RALEIGH,  NC  The  Raleigh  ARS 
will  present  its  27th  Hamfest  and 
Computer  Fair  in  the  Jim  Graham 
Building,  NCS  Fairgrounds,  Sun. 
April  11th,  8  a m-4  p.m.  Wheel- 
chair access.  There  will  beARRL. 
MARS,  APRS,  ARESr  NTS,  QRP 
and  DX  meetings  Advance  tickets 
$5,  S6  at  the  door.  All  activities 
inside.  Tables  and  booths  avail. 
Free  parking,  RVs  welcome. 
Hospitality  party  Sat.  night.  VE 
exams,  W4VFJ,  (919)  556-8551; 
pre-register.  Direct  inquiries  to 
Wilbur  Goss  WD4RDT,  4425  Wat- 
kins  Rd.,  Raleigh  NC  27616;  (919) 
266-7833,  Talk-in  on  146.64/.04. 

DELOIT,  IA  The  Denison  Repeater 
Assn.  of  Denison  IA  will  host  the 
1999  Debit  Amateur  Radio  Swap 
Meet  on  Sun.,  April  11th,  at  the 
Deloit  Community  Buliding,  320 
Maple  St.,  Deloit  IA.  Doors  will 
open  at  7  a.m.  Admission  will  be 
$2,  tables  for  sellers  will  be  $2. 
Tables  may  be  reserved  by  con- 


tacting John  Amdor  KD6MXL, 
(712)  388-8042;  packet  KD6MXL 
@WA0ZQG.#WIA.IA;  or  E-mail 
[jQhnmxi@radik$.nei].  Talk-in  on 
the  147.090  rptr  (+600).  Info  will 
be  on  the  Web  at  [http:liwww. 
radiks*  n  ethjohn  mxiideloit.  h  tm  I]. 

MONTGOMERY,  NY  The  Orange 
County  ARC  will  hold  a  hamfest, 
8  a.m. -2  p.m.,  at  the  Valley 
Central  High  School,  1175  State 
Route  17Kr  in  Montgomery.  Take 
Interstate  Rt.  84  to  Exit  6  (RL  1 7K 
&  Montgomery);  take  RL  17K  west 
to  the  high  school  on  the  left-hand 
side.  Admission  is  $5  in  advance, 
S5  at  the  door.  Tables  S10  if 
provided  by  the  club5  or  $8  if  you 
bring  your  own.  Tailgating  space, 
weather  permitting,  is  $7.  Talk-in 
on  146,160/760, 100  Hz  PL  tone. 
Contact  Edward  J,  Moskowitz 
N2XJir  123  Harold  Ave.,  Cornwall 
NY  12518-1701;  (914)  534-3492. 
E-mail  [N2XJi@BANET.NET]  or 
[EMOSKOWiTZ@BEAR,  COM]. 
Check  the  Web  at  [www.iDSi.NETI 
-MSHOVANI]. 


SPECIAL  EVENT 
STATIONS 

MAR  27 

MACON,  GA  The  Macon  ARC  will 
operate  W4BKM  1500-2300  UTC 
on  SaL  Mar  27th,  at  the  17th 
annual  Cherry  Blossom  Festival  in 
Macon  GA.  Phone:  7.235, 14.240 
and  21.335;  CW  7,135,  14.035 
and  21 , 1 35.  For  a  certificate,  send 
your  QSL  and  a  9  x  12  SASE  to 
Macon  ARC,  PO.  Box  4862, 
Macon  GA  31208. 

APR  10-11 

GREEN  VALLEY,  AZ  The  Green 
Valley  ARC,  N7GVh  will  operate 
1800Z  Apr  10th-2100Z  Apr. 
11th,  in  the  8th  annual  com- 
memoration of  the  closing  of  all 
Titan  2  missile  sites.  CW:  14.045, 
28145.  SSB:  7.272,  14.272, 
21.372,  28.372.  A  certificate  is 
available;  send  an  SASE  to 
GVARC,  601  N,  La  Canada, 
Green  Valley  AZ  85614.  M 


42   73  Amateur  Radio  Today  *  March  1999 


same  point  in  the  discharge 
cycle,  was  a  problem  in  early 
satellite  batteries  bui  is  rare  in 
today's  cells. 

Now  imagine  rechargeable 
batteries  with  double  the  energy 
density  (capacity  per  unit  of 
weight  and  volume)  as  NiCds, 
and  no  one  ever  uses  the  dreaded 
term  "memory^  when  talking 
about  them.  They  exist,  and  you 
can  find  them  and  their  charg- 
ers at  your  local  discount  store. 
But  are  they  a  good  choice  for 
powering  the  fox  for  your  club's 
next  hidden  transmitter  hunt? 
Whul  about  olher  uses  around 
the  home  and  shack? 

The  lowly  alkaline 
gets  renewed 

For  radio  use,  ordinary  alka- 
line batteries  (primary  cells) 

don't  get  much  respeeL  Once 
discharged,  they  go  into  the 
trash.  But  for  high  enerev  den- 
sity  and  long  shelf  life,  it's  hard 
to  top  them.  They  have  higher 
internal  resistance  than  NiCds, 
so  they  cant  put  out  very  high 
current,  Bui  for  moderate  cur- 
rent applications,  they  provide 
far  more  on-air  time  than  NiCds 
of  the  same  size.  They  have 
higher  terminal  voltage,  and 
they  weigh  less,  too.  They  aren't 
made  wilh  cadmium  or  mercury, 
so  they  are  safe  in  landfills. 

Rechargers  for  primary  al- 
kalines have  been  marketed,  but 
haven't  been  successful  because 
the  recharging  process  usually 
causes  shorts,  gas  buildup  and 
leakage  in  them.  Five  years  ago, 
Rayovac  introduced  Renewal* 
Reusable  Alkaline™  batteries, 
which  are  especially  designed  to 
be  recharged.  I  seldom  hear  of 
T-huniers  using  them,  but  they 
deserve  a  closer  look  for  many 
RDF  applications* 

Unlike  NiCdsT  which  have 
about  the  same  Ah  ratings  for  all 
loads  less  than  the  one-hour  cur- 
rent, the  available  energy  of 
alkalines  varies  significantly 
with  load  and  duration  of  use. 
The  lower  the  current  and  longer 
the  rest  period  between  trans- 
missions, the  higher  their  capac- 
ity. Capacity  per  charge  of 
rechargeable  alkalines  decreases 


with  each  use,  eventually  be- 
coming so  low  that  it's  time  to 
throw  them  away. 

Here's  a  practical  example 
with  which  to  compare  these 
battery  choices.  My  1COM  IC- 
2 AT  in  the  low  power  mode 
(300  mi FLi watts)  draws  200  mA 
at  any  operating  voltage  above 
6.5  volts.  The  low-battery  light 
comes  on  at  5.65  volts  (0.95 
volts/cell),  A  six-pack  of  AA 
Energizer*  NiCds  is  rated  at  650 
mAh,  providing  about  13  hours 
of  total  hidden-T  time  for  ihe  IC- 
2AT,  assuming  a  15-seconds-on/ 
45-£©con<ls-off  cycle  and  ignor- 
ing the  receiver  drain  between 
transmissions.  In  the  same 
setup,  a  six-pack  of  AA  primary 
alkalines  provides  about  1950 
mAh,  three  times  as  much.  In 
the  first  cycle,  you  can  expect 
1200  mAh  from  a  stx-pack  of 
Renewals.  After  25  charge  dis- 
charge cveles.  the  NiCds  and 
Renewals  will  each  give  about 
650  mAh,  At  cycle  100.  the  Re- 
newals will  be  down  to  about 
450  mAh,  still  enough  to  put  on 
a  nine-hour  T-hunt. 

At  a  local  discount  store,  a 
package  of  four  AA-size  Renew- 
als costs  about  $6.50.  compared 
to  $2,75  for  non-rechargeable 
Rayovac  alkalines,  The  two  most 
famous  brands  of  primary  cells 
cost  a  bit  more.  (They  have  to  pay 
for  all  those  bunny  and  anti-bunny 
ads  somehow. )  Ener^izer  NiCds 
cost  $9  for  four. 

If  the  Renewals  are  thrown 
away  after  100  cycles  in  the 
above  example,  they  will  have 
provided  a  total  of  1200  hour> 
hunt  time  (0.8  cents  per  hour), 
compared  to  1300  hours  for 
NiCds  (1.0  cent  hr).  Primary 
alkalines  cost  3.8  cents/hr  for 
their  single  cycle  of  39  hours. 

At  lower  currents.  Renewals 
perform  even  better  A  75-mil- 
liwait  micro-transmitter  draw- 
ing 50  mA  from  a  three-cell 
pack  (above  1.1  volts  per  cell) 
should  ye!  1 700  mAh  From  them 
on  the  first  cycle.  After  1 00  cycles, 
capacity  drops  to  600  mAh. 

A  different  charger 

The  chemistry  of  alkaline 
batteries  mandates  a  special 


Photo  A  This  Renewal  charger  refreshes  four  A  A  or  AAA  batter- 
ies at  once.  Each  cell  is  separately  monitored. 


charging  system.  NiCds  and 
lead-acids  are  readily  charged 
wilh  continuous  or  pulsed  cur* 
rent.  The  endpoint  of  their 
charge  cycle  is  sensed  by  mea- 
suring the  terminal  voltage 
while  current  is  being  applied, 
sometimes  augmented  by  cur- 
rent slope  and.  or  temperature 
sensors.  The  higher  internal  re- 
sistance of  alkaline  baitcrio 
makes  it  impossible  to  properly 
sense  the  end-of-eharge  point 
thai  way.  Terminal  voltage  must 
be  measured  between  pulses  of 
charging  current. 

Although  you  could  build 
your  own  charger,  it  is  probably 
not  economically  advantageous, 
since  a  Renewal  four-cell  (AA 
or  AAA)  charger  costs  only 
about  $10  at  a  discount  store 
(Photo  A).  It's  actually  four 
chargers  in  one.  because  each 
cell  holder  has  its  own  charge. 
sense  and  shutdown  circuits. 
(Unlike  other  rechargeable*. 
Renewals  can't  be  successfully 
chained  in  a  series  string,)  Smart 
electronics  inhibit  charging  if  a 
cell  is  completely  dead  or  inserted 
backwards.  A  special  holder  and 
connectors  prevent  it  from  charg- 
ing primary  alkalines.  (Renewals 
have  a  unique  top  design  with  a 
larger  positive  terminal  area.) 

For  experimenters  wanting  to 
build  a  Renewal  charger  into  a 
home-brew  project,  special  ICs 
are  available  from  Benchrmirq 
Microelectronics  of  Dallas  tlinl 
support  multiple  cells,  regulate 
the  current  pulses  for  charging, 
and  include  a  charge  rate  sen- 
sor to  detect  charge  completion. 
Incidentally,  Benchmarq's  line 


of  battery-management  ICs  in- 
cludes chargers  and  "gas  gauge" 
sensors  for  all  types  of  batter- 
ies. Some  chips  communicate 
W'ith  the  host  microprocessor  in 
the  using  device  to  support  an 
easy-to-understand  "time  remain- 
ing" displa>  in  hours  and  minutes. 
Which  ham  radio  handie-talkie 
manufacturer  will  be  the  first  to 
implement  ihi*  feature? 

Renewals  arc  not  suited  for 
very  high  current  loads  due  to 
their  higher  internal  resistance. 
NiCds  would  be  better  in  your 
handie-talkie  if  you  run  high 
power  most  of  the  time*  Renew- 
als are  also  not  suited  lor  de- 
vices in  which  the  battery  will 
be  drained  to  near  exhaustion, 
such  as  flashlights  and  clocks. 
Make  sure  that  you  slop  us  Jul-  a 
Renewal-powered  device  as 
soon  as  the  LOW  BATTFRY 
indicator  appears. 

Forme,  Renewals  reallv  shine 
when  used  in  products  thai  re- 
quire near-maximum  voltage  for 
proper  operation.  These  devices 
often  appear  to  be  "battery 
hogs"  because  thev  stop  func- 
tioning or  indicate  low  battery 
even  though  there  is  plenty  of 
life  in  the  cells,  albeit  at  reduced 
voltage.  For  instance,  the  flash 
pack  on  my  35  mm  camera  uses 
four  AA  cells.  When  they  are 
fresh  ( 1.6  V/cell),  the  Hash  re- 
cycles in  a  fewr  seconds.  But  al- 
ter shooting  a  roll  or  two  of  film, 
it  seems  to  take  forever,  even 
though  the  batteries  are  only 
down  to  1.35  volts  per  cell 

For  shooting  fast-paced  night- 
time  foxhunting  action,  I  used 
to  throw  away  perfectly  good 


73  Amateur  Radio  Today  •  Ma  re  hi  99  9    43 


QRP 


Uumber  44  on  your  Feetffcack  cartf 


Low  Power  Operation 


Michael  Bryce  WB8VGE 
SunLight  Energy  Systems 
955  Manchester  Ave  SW 
North  Lawrence  OH  44666 
[prosolar@sssnet.com] 


This  time  of  the  year  at  my 
house,  we're  usually  up  to  our 
knees  in  snow,  So,  depending  on 
where  you  arc,  you  may  be  suf- 
fering from  a  ease  of  cabin  fe- 
ver I  know  of  no  better  cure  for 
cabin  fever  than  build  in  a  some- 

■ — ' 

thing  for  the  shack.  It's  not  a 
case  of  deciding  what  to  build — 
it's  just  that  the  act  of  melting 
solder  can  often  make  you  feel 
better. 

However,  if  your  supply  of 
future  projects  has  hit  bottom, 


how  about  working  on  design- 
ing your  own  PC  boards?  You 
know,  nowadays,  it's  just  not 
possible  to  really  perfboard  ev- 
erything together.  Usually,  any 
circuit  that  requires  more  than 
one  14-pin  IC  is  enough  to  make 
me  stop  thinking  about  building 
it,  unless  a  PC  board  is  available. 
When  1  had  just  received  my 
license,  one  of  the  local  hams 
had  built  a  two-meter  HT  from 
scratch!  Sure,  it  was  not  very 
pretty,  but  it  did  work.  Of 


course,  back  then  we  had  only 
one  repeater  in  the  county,  and 
almost  everyone  was  on  146.52 
simplex,  What  really  got  my  at- 
tention was  that  Joe  made  his 
own  PC  boards.  Now,  you  have 
to  remember  that  this  was  way, 
way  back  in  1975,  and  a  com- 
puter in  the  shack  was  still  the 
stuff  of  science  fiction!  No,  what 
Joe  did  was  to  build  his  board 
out  of  double- sided  PC  board 
material  using  nail  polish, 
hobby  paint,  and  mailing  labels! 

Well,  that  was  then:  this  is 
now.  Today,  we  have  several 
methods  of  putting  circuits  on 
PC  boards.  Let's  look  at  some, 
from  the  easy  ones  to  computer- 
generated  Gerber  files. 

Since  Joe's  rig  did  not  include 
any  large-scale  multi-pin  ICs,  he 
had  a  lot  more  room  to  put  in 
his  traces.  Also,  Joe  was  able  to 


build  the  I  IT  large  enough  to 
suit  die  capacity  of  his  drawing 


In  making  a  PC  board,  the 
idea  is  quite  basic.  You  apply 
some  type  of  resistant  coating  to 
protect  the  copperclad  board 
from  the  etching  chemical.  In 
Joe's  case,  he  used  nail  polish, 
Joe  applied  the  nail  polish  us- 
ing a  very  fine  camel  hair 
brush — and  a  very,  very  steady 
hand!  Where  Joe  wanted  a  cop- 
per trace,  he  put  down  the  nail 
polish.  When  the  board  was 
etched,  the  only  copper  to  re- 
main was  protected  by  the  pol- 
ish. A  bath  in  acetone  removed 
the  polish.  The  holes  were 
drilled  as  required,  and  die  parts 
mounted  on  the  board,  An  al- 
most-instant PC  board  was 
made. 

A I  most- in  slant  PC  board? 
Well,  that's  right!  You  see,  etching 


batteries  and  put  fresh  ones  in 
the  flash  unit,  just  to  get  fast  re- 
cycle time.  Putting  NiCd  cells 
in  place  of  alkalines  wouldn't 
solve  the  problem,  because  the 
terminal  value  of  NiCds  is  only 
1.35  volts  each  when  freshly 
recharged,  dropping  to  1.2  V 
soon  after.  So  now  1  just  carry  a 
couple  of  sets  of  rechargeable 
alkalines.  After  every  session,  I 
charge  them  back  to  1 .6  volts  so 
they* re  ready  to  go. 

Similarly,  I  use  Renewals  in 
the  Sony  portable  shortwave  re- 
ceiver that  I  take  on  occasional 
overseas  trips.  1  also  carry  them 
for  backup  use  in  my  VHF 
handhelds.  1  don't  have  to  worry 
about  self-discharge  in  the  cam- 
era bag,  suitcase,  and  emer- 
gency box  between  times  of 
need. 

Some  manufacturers  recom- 
mend fully  discharging  your 
NiCd  batteries  regularly.  Don't 
do  that  with  your  rechargeable 
alkalines.  They  last  longest  if 
they  are  not  discharged  below  0.9 
to  1 ,1  volts  per  cell  depending  on 
load.  That's  what  makes  them 
ideal  for  the  camera  flash,  where 
they  will  not  be  used  below  1 ,3 
volts. 

Renewal  batteries  are  available 


in  sizes  AAA  through  D.  Be- 
cause each  cell  must  be  charged 
individually,  multi-cell  batteries 
such  as  the  popular  N  EDA  1 604 
9  V  package  are  not  available. 
For  more  information  on  Re- 
newals, download  the  applica- 
tion notes  and  product  data 
sheets  from  the  Rayovac  Web 
site  [http://wwwTayovac.coni/ 
oem/].  You  can  compare  them 
with  non-rechargeable  alkalines 
by  downloading  Rayovac 's  pri- 
mary batteiy  application  notes 
at  the  same  site. 

Ready  to  roll? 

If  a  spurious  signal  appeared 
on  your  local  repeater  input  fre- 
quency tomorrow,  would  you  be 
ready  to  track  it  down?  Mem- 
bers of  the  Hudson  Valley  Di- 
rection Finding  Association 
were  quick  to  respond  when  it 
happened  to  a  repeater  in  Nyaek, 
New  York.  "We  did  it  by  the 
textbook,"  wrote  Tony  Cioffi 
N2KL  When  he  and  John  Hirth 
W2Ki  got  the  call  one  morning, 
they  went  to  the  repeater  site  to 
get  good  bearings  on  the  signal, 
which  wras  quite  unstable. 

"We  then  headed  out  to  an- 
other location  that  would  give  us 


an  intersecting  bearing,"  N2KI 
went  on,  "With  this  info,  we 
headed  into  New  Jersey,  where 
the  bearing  lines  intersected.  All 
the  way,  we  had  different  signal 
strengths  and  at  some  points, 
nothing.  What  made  it  a  lot 
harder  was  that  the  signal  was 
drifting  about  50  kHz.  We  had 
to  keep  scanning  the  band  for  it. 
As  we  got  closer,  we  added 
more  attenuation/' 

Before  long,  they  were  over 
10  miles  away  at  Beth  El  Cem- 
etery in  Paramus,  Newr  Jersey, 
where  the  signal  was  a  solid  S- 
9.  "At  12  noon,  il  disappeared 
as  if  someone  threw  the  switch," 
Tony  continued,  "Great,  just  as 
we  finally  get  close,  it  goes 
awray !  So  we  went  for  lunch." 

Luckily,  the  signal  was  back 
when  they  finished  eating.  "Af- 
ter walking  around  for  a  while 
and  getting  more  readings,  the 
work  force  was  wondering  what 
wre  were  doing.  When  we  ex- 
plained, they  were  very  consid- 
erate. We  were  able  to  check 
their  business  frequency  to  see 
if  it  had  a  connection  to  the  spur. 
No  such  luck." 

The  intrepid  pair  kept  tuning 
and  taking  bearings.  Soon  they 
were  in  a  police  parking  lot, 


with  Bergen  Pines  County  FIos- 
pital  in  view  on  the  other  side 
of  the  Garden  State  Parkway. 
"At  this  point,  wc  had  over  1 00 
dB  of  attenuation.  We  couldn't  gel 
good  directivity  with  the  quads, 
or  even  with  an  antenna  less 
handie-talkie.  So  John  broke  out 
his  SuperDF,  a  Time-Differ- 
ence-Of- Arrival  set  by  BMG 
Engineering." 

A  few  minutes  later,  they 
were  certain  that  the  spur  source 
was  within  the  hospital  They 
called  the  repeater  trustee  with 
the  news.  "After  six  hours,  wc 
had  our  culprit,"  Tony  con- 
cluded. "Within  24  hours,  the 
spur  was  fixed.  We  never  did 
find  out  what  equipment  was 
causing  it,  but  our  repeater  is 
now  back  to  normal.  It's  really 
satisfying  to  be  able  to  use  RDF 
skills  in  a  real  situation  and  have 
positive  results/1 

Unfortunately,  grunge-bust- 
ing  isn't  always  that  straightfor- 
ward. It  takes  perseverance, 
logic,  and  luck  to  solve  "tough 
dog"  cases,  even  for  experienced 
T-hunters.  Next  time.  III  tell  the 
stoiy  of  a  hunt  that  didn't  go  as 
welL  The  lessons  learned  may 
help  you  if  similar  problems 
strike  in  your  home  town, 


44   73  Amateur  Radio  Today  *  March  1999 


the  copper  from  the  board  is  the 
easy  part,  IV s  figuring  out  how 
to  lay  out  the  circuil  that's  I  he 
kicker!  Circuit  Layout  101. 
Here's  how  I  do  it,  and  believe 
me,  for  every  ham  vou  talk  to 
about  laying  oui  PC  boards, 
you'  11  get  a  different  method. 
This  is  what  works  for  me,  By 
the  way,  we're  talking  hand- 
made right  now — we'll  look  at 
computer-generated  PC  boards 
next  time. 

One  of  the  first  things  you 
need  is  a  pair  of  X-ray  eyes.  You 
need  to  have  the  ability  to  visu- 
alize looking  through  the  PC 
board  just  like  Superman  would. 
By  the  way,  this  is  exactly  how 
the  computer  does  PC  display 
by  looking  through  the  board. 

I  start  by  assembling  all  the 
major  parts  needed  for  the 
project.  This  includes  the  It  s 
and  other  larger  parts  like  the 
electrolytic  capacitors.  If  any 
oddball-shaped  parts  are  used,  I 
make  sure  I  have  them  in  the 
pile. 

I  like  to  put  the  parts  on  a  PC 
board  so  that  all  the  input  and 
output  lines  are  on  the  end.  This 
way,  1  can  use  one  of  the  multi- 
pin  connectors  I  like.  1  then 
place  the  parts,  such  as  It's,  on 
a  sheet  of  paper.  1  may  move 
them  around  so  that  l he  connec- 
tions between  one  IC  and  an- 
other are  as  short  and  direct  as 
possible. 

Once  1  get  a  feeling  on  how 
the  major  parts  should  be 
placed,  I  use  an  ink  pen  and 
draw  in  the  IC  pins,  I  mark  pin 
one  with  a  red  pen.  Now,  using 
your  schematic,  you  start  by 
drawing  in  the  resistors,  capaci- 
tors, and  whatnots  in  pencil. 
Using  your  pencil,  you  connect 
the  various  parts  together,  while 
not  allowing  any  of  the  pencil 
marks  to  touch  or  cross  each 
other. 

You  may  be  wondering  why  I 
use  an  ink  pen  for  the  sockets 
and  pencil  for  the  traces.  Of 
course,  you  can  erase  the  pencil 
marks,  but  the  ink  is  permanent. 
That  way  I  can  change  the  traces 
going  to  and  from  the  fC  pins 
without  redrawing  them  each 
time  I  make  a  change.  I  put  in 


the  resistor  and  capacitor  leads 
the  same  wray,  provided  J  have 
decided  to  keep  a  part  in  its  final 
position. 

Believe  me.  you'll  need  to 
redraw  the  traces  dozens  of 
times  before  you"re  happy  with 
the  results.  The  general  idea  is 
to  avoid  the  use  of  jumper  wires. 
But.  unless  you*re  working  on 
a  double-sided  board,  you  nia\ 
not  be  able  to  avoid  jumpers. 
The  world  won't  come  to  an  end 
if  your  circuit  has  some  jump- 
ers. In  fact.  Tie  seen  some  de- 
signs thai  used  more  jumpers 
than  parts,  but  the  circuits 
worked  just  fine! 

I  mark  each  component  with 
its  designator  per  the  schematic. 
Resistors  R 1 ,  R2,  and  so  onT  in- 
stead of  10  k,  1 .2  k,  and  the  like. 
That  way,  you  know  what  part 
goes  where.  Things  can  get  all 
screwed  up  if  you  have  more 
than  one  1 0  k  resistor  drawn  on 
your  sheet 

Normally.  1  run  all  the  traces 
between  all  the  pieces  parts  and 
then  do  the  supply  or  VCC  line. 
I  run  ground  traces  as  I  need 
them,  Many  parts  require 
ground  connections,  so  I  try  to 
daisy-chain  these  connections 
together. 

After  1  get  the  paper  version 
of  the  circuit  down  as  well  as  I 
can,  I  make  a  photocopy  of  the 
layout,  Now.  I  get  some  of  the 
black  foam  they  use  for  shipping 
static-sensitive  components,  and 
place  my  paper  copy  on  top. 
[  hen  I  push  the  leads  of  the 
parts  through  the  paper  into  the 
foam.  This  way.  I  have  a  real  live 
full-scale  model  of  the  circuit 
board  before  I  etch  it.  I  do  this 
step  to  be  sure  that  all  the  parts 
lit!  One  of  the  problems  I  have 
is  having  a  part  that  won't  fit  the 
finished  PC  board.  This  usually 
comes  up  as  a  heat  sink  or 
mounting  screw,  I  foi^et  the  heat 
sink  has  fins,  and  the  fins  have 
a  habit  of  getting  in  the  way  of 
another  part.  The  nut  used  to 
hold  the  PC  board  to  the  chas- 
sis may  touch  a  trace  or  a  resis- 
tor lead  in  the  final  version  of 
the  PC  board.  These  small 
things  have  a  way  of  biting  you 
in  the  butt! 


Special  design  goals 

When  working  with  RF  cir- 
cuits, 1  try  to  keep  all  the  trace 
lengths  as  short  as  possible. 
Lead  inductance  may  cause 
your  circuit  to  perform  differ- 
ently on  a  PC  board  than  on  a 
perfboard,  The  higher  the  fre- 
quency of  the  operating  circuil, 
the  greater  the  chances  of  troubles 
with  a  poor  PC  design. 

Traces  don't  have  to  be 
straight  or  at  right  angles  to  each 
other.  In  some  of  my  designs.  I 
have  made  curved  lines  to  set  to 
the  emitter  of  an  RF  amplifier. 
The  use  of  large  ground  planes 
helps  keep  RF  circuits  happy.  The 
more  ground  copper,  the  better  the 
stability  of  the  circuit. 

Applying  resist  to 
the  copper 

For  traces,  a  resist  pen  works 
fine.  Radio  Shack'  sells  these  for 
a  few  bucks,  but  if  you're  into 
making  your  own  PC  boards.  I 

suggest  getting  these  pens  from 
an  office  supply  house.  Office 
Max  and  Staples11  both  earn'  the 
Sharpie "  markers,  Keep  the  caps 
on  them  when  they  are  not  in  use 
Exposure  to  the  air  wilt  dry  them 
out  in  a  hurry!  Putting  in  these 
large  ground  traces  can  prove 
messy.  If  you're  using  a  resist  pen, 
you'll  run  the  pen  dry  before  you 
get  all  the  copper  covered. 

In  a  case  like  this,  I  have  used 
several  methods.  One  is  to  use 
nail  polish.  I  really  don't  have 
the  talent  to  apply  this  stuff  in 
fine  lines,  but  for  large  grounds, 
it  works  just  fine.  A  trip  to  the 
local  five  and  dime  will  yield 
dozens  of  nasty-colored  cheap 
nail  polishes.  You' II  need  some 
acetone  to  clean  up  with  and  to 
clean  your  brushes. 

If  you  don't  want  to  mess  with 
the  nail  polish,  how  about  mail- 
ing labels?  Yup!  They  work! 
Clean  the  copper  you  want  to 
keep  and  then  apply  a  mailing 
label.  Burnish  the  label  down 
using  an  old  Bic*  pen  cap.  Don't 
worry  about  the  area  you  need 
to  protect  just  yet.  After  you 
have  the  label  burnished  down, 
cut  awray  any  area  you  need  with 
a  sharp  X-acto*  knife,  After  you 
etch  the  board,  you  can  rub  off  the 


label.  You  can  make  an  entire  PC 
board  using  mailing  labels!  Just 
cut  the  label  where  you  want  the 
etchant  to  remove  the  copper! 

Iron-on  PC  boards 

Jf  there  is  a  board  you  wish 
to  make,  and  the  layout  is  in  a 
magazine,  there  is  an  easy  way 
to  make  your  own  boards.  You  *  11 
need  something  called  a  toner 
transfer  system.  Basically,  you 
copy  the  layout  from  the  maga- 
zine onto  this  special  TTS  pa- 
per. Then,  using  an  iron,  you 
iron  the  image  onto  your  cop- 
per board.  By  soaking  the  paper 
in  wrarm  water,  you  remove  the 
paper  backing,  leaving  a  toner 
resist  on  the  copper  You  then  etch 
the  board  as  you  normally  do. 

I  have  to  admit,  Ivc  never  had 
much  luck  w  ith  this  system.  There 
are  hams  who  swear  by  it,  but  for 
me,  it's  wray  too  much  hassle. 

Etching  101 

Speaking  of  etching,  I  use  the 
etching  chemical  ( ferric  chloride ) 
available  from  Radio  Shack. 
There  are  others  available,  but  this 
stuff  works  the  best,  and  is  easy 
to  obtain  from  the  "Shack"  on  a 
Saturday  evening. 

You  can  speed  up  the  etching 
process  by  heating  the  etching 
chemical,  but  don't  get  too  car- 
ried away.  If  you  get  the  fluid 
too  hot,  there  is  a  good  chance 
that  you  will  undercut  the  cop- 
per being  protected  by  the  resist, 
If  you're  using  mailing  labels, 
it  is  possible  to  have  them  wash 
out  if  the  fluid  is  too  hot.  Try 
not  to  heat  the  etchant  higher 
than  1 00  degrees  R 

By  the  way,  in  case  you've 
never  used  ferric  chloride,  it  will 
stain  everything  it  touches.  Fer- 
ric chloride  is  really  nasty  stuff, 
so  be  careful  when  handling  it. 
Use  only  glass  or  plastic  to  store 
or  etch  vour  boards  in.  I  use  an 
old  Pyrex  baking  dish. 

How  strong  the  etching  chemi- 
cal is,  how  hot  it  is,  and  the 
amount  of  copper  you  wish  10 
remove  all  factor  into  how 
long  it  will  take  to  make  your 
board.  I  have  found  that  with 
warm  etchant,  and  with  constant 


73  Amateur  Radio  Today  •  March  1999    45 


Number  46  on  your  Feedback  card 


The  Digithl  Port 


Jack  Heller  KB7N0 

RO.  Box  1792 

Carson  City  NV  89703-1792 

[jheller@sjerra.netj 


One  of  the  hottest  digital  top- 
ics has  turned  out  to  be  slow- 
scan  television  (SSTV).  1  think 
it  is  fascinating  to  send  and  re- 
ceive a  color  image  directly  via 
HF  ham  radio  over  a  distance 
ranging  from  a  few  hundred  to 
several  thousand  miles  ami  have 
it  display  with  excellent  clarity. 
Probably  the  reason  1  have  ob- 
served so  much  interest  is  that 
it  can  be  done  for  such  a  low 
cost. 

I  have  written  previous  col- 
umns about  getting  on  SSTV  for 
less  than  S50.  and  this  was  an 
accurate  assessment,  because  1 
had  done  it  (twice — two  diflfer- 
ent  approaches).  There  are  pro- 
grams available  from  Pasokon 
and  Silicon  Pixels  that  are  either 
shareware  or  freeware  and  if  you 
have  a  fairly  up-to-date  com- 
puter, the  rest  is  a  piece  of  cake 
(usually), 

I  receive  more  correspon- 
dence on  SSTV  than  on  any 
other  mode,  and  thai  sparks  my 
personal  enthusiasm.  Not  long 
ago,  a  piece  of  E-mail  arrived 
from  Roger  N8XP,  who  had  just 
purchased  a  brand-spanking- 
new  ultra-high-speed  computer 
and  a  BayPae  BP-2M  multi- 
mode  modem,  and  was  experi- 
encing problems  with  both  the 
JVFAX  and  the  BZSSTV  pro- 
grams locking  up  the  computer 

He  explained  that  his  com- 
puter came  with  Window  s98™ 
and  L  formed  an  unmentionable 
notion  based  on  something  a 
few  software  people  had  told  me 
a  while  back.  I  am  still  using 


Windows95™,  so  1  wasn't  sure 
what  to  tell  him.  but  1  feared 
we  were  about  to  learn  a  new 
incompatibility  problem. 

Just  to  be  sure  I  covered  all 
the  bases,  I  expressed  the 
thoughts  above  along  with  the 
observation  that  these  programs 
must  run  in  DOS  and  not  a  DOS 
window.  That  is.  Windows  must 
not  be  running  and  I  gave  more 
detail  than  necessary,  Then  I 
told  him,  if  he  was  following  the 
rules  up  to  that  point,  to  call  the 
BayPae  people  to  see  if  they 
knew  of  any  problem  concern- 
ing JVFAX  being  incompatible 
with  Windows98,  or  to  call 
John  Langner  WB20SZ.  the 
author  of  the  Pasokon  EZSSTV 
software. 

A  few  days  later,  Roger  re- 
plied with  some  very  useful  in- 
formation to  share.  John  Lang- 
ner had  informed  him  that  some 
of  the  earlier  versions  of 
EZSSTV  had  problems  and 
those  earlier  versions  were  still 
on  many  bulletin  boards.  How- 
ever, the  version  on  the  official 
Pasokon  site  ( see  Table  1 )  is  the 
latest  update,  Roger  down- 
loaded that  one  and  it  solved  the 
problem. 

That  is  the  lesson  I  wish  to 
pass  on.  The  listing  in  Table  1 
is  the  correct  site  to  download 
FZSSTV  This  is  a  very  infor- 
mative  site  and  John  frequently 
updates  the  data,  along  with 
interesting  images  including,  at 
this  writings  some  pictures  trans- 
mitted by  the  MIR  cosmonauts. 

As  a  little  side-thouqht.  I  recall 


having  trouble  with  the  JVFAX 
program  a  year  or  so  ago  and 
that  is  when  1  started  nosing 
around  and  found  so  many  great 
slow-scan  programs  and  hard- 
ware ideas  available.  It  just  took 
oil' from  there.  Also,  in  fairness. 
it  looks  as  though  the  author  of 
JVFAX  now  has  a  32-bit  version 
available.  I  haven't  tried  that 
one. 

An  SSTV  organization 

During  one  conversation  w  ith 
Bob  W6EUZ,  1  was  made  aw  are 
of  a  fine  non-profit  SSTV  group 
that  puts  out  a  newsletter  and 
strives  to  advance  the  cause  of 
slow-scan.  The  International 
Visual  Communication  Associa- 
tion, headquartered  in  Nash- 
ville, Tennessee,  has  a  Web  site* 
See  Table  I. 

I  obtained  some  of  their  lit- 
erature from  Lew  W6FVV. 
From  that,  I  found  the  above 
Web  site,  It  is  really  an  educa- 
tion  on  the  possibilities  of 
SSTV — I  mean  possibilities  that 
have  already  been  attained. 
There  are  numerous  images  as 
received  from  MIR  and  a  de- 
scription of  the  equipment  used 
on  the  orbiting  spacecraft. 

Included  is  a  listing  of  those 
who  have  achieved  various 
SSTV  DX  levels.  One  ham  has 
confirmed  100  two-way  image 
contacts  and  quite  a  few  have 
recorded  .s0  countries.  This 
gives  an  idea  of  the  worldwide 
interest  in  slow-scan.  There  are 
also  manv  related  links  that  I 
didn't  have  The  rime  to  explore. 

but  1  would  suggest  there  is  a  lot 
of  education  and  motivation  to 
get  into  this  captivating  mode. 

The  Internet — friend  or 
foe? 

Along  the  way,  T  had  a  touch 

of  reality  hit  me  again.  One  of 
my  teenage  grandsons  passed 
through  the  shack  and  1  was 


showing  him  an  image  on  the 
computer  screen  that  w  as  al  that 
moment  going  out  over  the  air. 
He  looked  at  that  for  a  few  sec- 
onds, seemingly  digested  the 
thought,  then  asked,  "Why  don't 
you  just  send  it  over  the 
Internet?" 

At  that  moment,  many  unset- 
tling thoughts  Hashed  through 
my  headL  My  answer  didn't  have 
much  depth.  1  simply  replied,  "I 
dont  want  to.  There  is  no  chal- 
lenge to  that/*  Then  I  hoped  I 
might  reopen  the  question  later 
uhen  I  could  get  my  thoughts 
in  order  But  here  lies  a  problem  1 
have  mentioned  before. 

This  seeming  "cookie-cutter 
technology"  is  so  easy  everyone 
is  doing  it.  Those  who  are  com- 
ing after  us  don't  accept  chal- 
lenges very  well.  And  1  find  the 
Internet,  by  whatever  means  it 
has.  is  capturing  the  vision  of 
our  bright  young  people  and 
they  are  not  finding  fascination 
with  ham  radio.  I  am  unsure 
howr  to  change  this  situation.  I 
see  established  hams  abandon- 
ing the  hobby  because  they  find 
more  to  their  interest  on  the 
Internet. 

1  grant  that  the  Internet  is  a 
great  medium  for  information 
gathering,  as  is  evidenced  in  this 
column.  It  is  educational  for 
those  who  are  so  inclined.  It  will 
become  a  big-time  player  in 
commerce  in  a  fewr  years.  But  I 
grow  weary  (bleary)  of  looking 
at  fancy  Web  sites  and  sure  don't 
care  to  enter  chat  rooms  with  a 
bunch  of  people  who  don't  have 
a  life.  I  would  rather  spend  15 
minutes  calling  "GQ"  with  no 
response.  If  I  conjure  up  the  cor- 
rect attitude,  those  15  minutes 
are  more  productive  and.  at  the 
same  time,  relaxing.  Maybe  1 
am  the  strange  one. 

That  antenna 

Last  time  around,  I  told  of  a 


agitation,  it  takes  about  10  to 
20  minutes  to  etch  a  small 
board  (your  mileage  may 
vary).  Check  the  progress  by 
pulling  the  board  up  out  of  the 


etchins  chemical,  and  allow- 

■ — 

ine  anv  excess  to  drain  back 
into  the  etching  tray.  If  vou 
still  see  copper,  then  continue 
to  etch.  As  you  near  the  end  of 


the  process,  you  will  want  to 
keep  an  eye  out,  as  you  don't 
want  to  undercut  any  traces.  Or 
worse  yet,  etch  away  the  traces 
you  desire! 


All  vou  have  to  do  nowr  is 
wash  the  board  off  with  water 
and  drill  out  the  holes. We'll 
pick  up  on  how  to  do  that  next 
time. 


46    73  Amateur  Radio  Today  •  March  1999 


home-brew  mobile  antenna  Fd 
buill  for  the  side  of  our  small 
RV  It  started  as  a  simple  experi- 
ment and  it  works  well  but  there 
is  something  a  bit  too  "magic" 
about  it.  I  didn't  give  specific 
dimensions*  and  1  am  not  soine 
to,  until  I  can  master  the  theory 
of  why  it  works  so  well. 

In  a  nutshell,  it  resonates  on 
40,  20  and  15  meters  (with  no 
changes!)  and,  with  the  help  of 
a  good  tuner.  I  can  bring  the 
SWR  to  or  near  I :  I  on  all  three 
bands.  1  am  ecstatic  about  the 
success.  I  should  "nail  it,"  close 
the  toolbox  and  go  on  to  greater 
projects. 

The  strange  part  of  this  an- 
tenna came  to  light  as  I  was  at- 
tempting to  tweak  the  resonant 
frequencies  by  changing  the 
length  of  the  whip.  It  was  cut  at 
an  arbitrary  9 1  inches,  so  1  length- 
ened  it  to  an  even  96  inches.  The 
dip  meter  ga\e  the  same  resonant 
frequency  readings. 

Well,  I  could  accept  that  for  a 
bit.  The  plan  that  day  was  to  as- 
semble a  724nch  whip  to  experi- 
ment with,  With  that  installed,  all 


the  resonant  frequencies  were 
the  same.  That  is.  7. 1  MHz,,  14.2, 
21.2,  about  35  and  about  45  MHz. 
It  got  eerier  as  I  progressed. 

I  had  left  the  temporary  taps 
in  place  so  I  could  change  the 
coil  dimensions  and  no  reposi- 
tioning of  the  taps  made  any 
noteworthy  difference  in  the  dip 
meter  readout.  I  hooked  up  the 
radio  and  found  that  the  SWR 
was  much  the  same  with  one 
whip  as  it  was  with  the  other. 

1  attempted  some  coil  tap  ad- 
justment to  lower  SWR,  to  no 
avail.  Either  whip  radiates  a  sig- 
nal. For  proof,  I  worked  a  ham 
in  Maine  for  a  few  minutes  on 
20  SSR  with  the  six-foot  whip. 
There  is  never  time  to  get  a  real 
benchmark ^ype  comparison, 
but  1  attempted  breaking  into  a 
net  on  40  w  ith  the  short  whip 
and  they  weren't  copying. 

After  a  few  tries.  I  unscrewed 
the  whip  to  make  the  change  to 
the  longer  one  and  proved  that 
the  whip  was  doing  something 
because  the  received  audio  dis- 
appeared with  no  whip  in  place. 
That  was  somewhat  of  a  relief 


because  I  was  beginning  to  think 
1  had  built  a  loading  system  that 
used  the  metal  body  as  a  radiat- 
ing element.  With  the  longer 
whip  in  place,  a  40-meter  con- 
tact was  easily  established  w  iih 
a  more  local  station  and  received 
a  decent  report* 

This  means  several  things 

Number  one:  1  have  an  oper- 
able mobile  station  that  I  can 
take  down  the  road  this  next 
week  and  just  plain  enjoy.  I  have 
yet  to  mount  the  radio  so  it  is 
accessible  from  the  driver's  seat, 
although  1  did  take  it  for  a  spin 
with  the  radio  in  the  passenger 
seal,  and  made  a  few  mobile 
contacts.  Not  very  sanitary,  but 
fun*  And  1  do  have  the  material 
to  make  the  mount. 

Number  two:  1  have  quite  a 
stack  of  antenna  books  here,  but 
there  are  few  theoretical  articles 
on  mobile  antennas,  1  built  the 
loading  coil  by  modifying  some 
dimensions  given  for  a  monoband 
mobile  setup  in  one  of  these 
bookv  I  here  were  no  lonnula> 


available  there,  I  hope  all  mo- 
bile home-brews  arc  noi  de- 
signed and  assembled  by  the 
seai-of-the-pants  method  as  was 
mine. 

Number  three:  Since  arriving 
ai  this  state  of  success,  I  have 
convinced  the  budget  depart- 
ment (XYL)  that  it  is  a  good 
idea  to  inwsi  in  an  automatic 
tuner,  I  am  truly  convinced  there 
is  a  safety  factor  concerning  the 
driving  hazards  of  the  mobile 
operator  as  well  as  for  the  finals 
in  the  transceiver. 

The  main  thrust  of  this  en- 
deavor is  to  work  HF  digital 
modes  away  from  home.  To  this 
point,  I  have  only  been  able  to 
use  VHF,  which  is  limiting.  Al- 
though J  understand  there  is 
two-meter  SSTVt  1  haw  never 
experienced  it.  This  next  week, 
I  will  be  away  from  home  and 
will  experiment  with  "new* 
found  horizons." 

Speaking  of  automatic  tuners, 
I  am  going  to  give  LDG  Elec- 
tronics a  buzz  and  get  one  of 

Continued  on  page  50 


Current  Web  Addresses 

Source  for: 

Web  address  (URL) 

HF  serial  modem  plans  +  software 

http://www.accessone.com/-tmayhan/index.htm 

PCFIexnet  communications  free  programs 

http;//d  10td.afthd.th-darmstadt.de/~flexnet/index.html 

Tom  Sailer's  info  on  PCFIexnet 

http://www.ife.ee.ethz.ch/-sailer/pcf/ 

SV2AGW  free  Win95  programs 

http://www.forthnetgr/sv2agw/ 

Bay  Com  -  German  site 

http://www,baycom.de/ 

Pasokon  SSTV  programs  &  hardware 

http://www.uitranet.com/-sstv/lite.html 

Winpack  shareware  for  Windows 

http://www.duckles.demon.co.uk/ham/wp.htm 

Baycom  1.5  and  ManuaLzip  in  English 

hHp://www.cs.wvu,edu/-acm/gopher/Software/baycom/ 

Source  for  BayPac  BP-2M 

http://www.tigertronics.com/ 

Tucson  Amateur  Packet  Radio — where  packet  started — new 
modes  on  the  way 

http://www.tapr+org 

TNC  to  radio  wiring  help 

http://pratrie.lakes.com/-medcalf/ztx/wire/ 

ChromaPIX  &  W95SSTV 

http://www.sificonpixels.com/ 

Timewave  DSP  &  former  AEA  prod 

http://www.timewave.com 

International  Visual  Communication  Association — a  non-profit 
organization  dedicated  to  SSTV 

http://www.mindspring.com/-sstv/ 

Small  computer  boards/various  kits,  including  VHF  packet 
serial  modem  kit 

http://wwwJdgelectronics.com 

73  Amateur  Radio  Today  •  March  1999    47 


Number  48  on  your  Feedback  card 


New  Products 


■1-1.1    I   lUllfrl'M       II  II^JjMMMMiaMliHiMI-W*  W-     '  - ™ 


Barely  Bigger  Than 
a  Matchbox 

Try  this  one  on  for  size — the 
MFJ-922  VHF/UHF  dual-band 
antenna  tuner!  It  has  a  single 
meter  that  reads  SWR  and 
power  (no  zero  adjustment 
necessary).  It  covers  VHF  from 
136  to  175  MHz  and  UI1F 
from 420  to  460  MHz.  You  can 


read  power  up  to  150  watts  in 
two  ranges:  60  W  or  150  W. 

The  MFJ-922  is  a  terrific 
tuner  for  HTs,  mobile  rigs,  or 
amplifiers  up  to  1 50  W.  Tuck 
it  in  your  shirt  pocket  and  take 
it  with  you  anywhere;  an  SWR 
tuning  tool  is  included.  Of, 
course,  it's  covered  by  MFTs 
famous  No  Matter  What™ 
one-year  limited  warranty. 

To  order  or  for  the  name  of 
your  nearest  dealer,  call  (800) 
647-I800;FAX(60l)323-655I; 
E-mail  [mfj@mfj  enterprises, 
com];  or  check  out  dealer  and 
ordering  information  on  the  Web 
at  [http://www.mfjentcrprises. 
com], 


1 


Protect  Yourself  from 
Mother  Nature's  Wrath 

If  you've  ever  had  radio 
equipment  damaged  or  de- 
stroyed by  lightning  surges,  you 
probably  remember  how  irate 
and  frustrated  you  were.  Dy- 
namic Electronics,  Inc.,  to  the 
rescue! 

The  new  LP- 1  Lightning 
Surge  Protector  is  designed  to 
place  a  short  across  the  trans- 
ceiver's antenna  terminal  when 
the  transceiver  is  turned  off.  An 


50-239  socket  is  mounted  to  a 
metal  box  and  is  connected  to 
the  normal ly  closed  relay  con- 
tacts, A  tee  connects  to  the 
socket;  the  antenna  connects  to 
one  side  of  the  tee  and  a  three- 
foot  RG-58  cable  connects  from 
the  other  to  the  transceiver's  an- 
tenna  jack.  An  RCA-type  phono 
jack  is  mounted  to  the  box  and  a 
patch  cord  is  included  to  connect 
to  a  12-volt  source. 

The  LP-1  comes  complete 
with  cables  for  a  quick  plug-in 
installation,  and  is  only  $39.95 
plus  $4.00  shipping/handling. 
Order  from  Dynamic  Electron- 
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AL  35640;  call  (256)  773- 
2758;  FAX  (256)  773-7295;  or 
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has  just  added  two  triodes  to 
their  line  of  high-quality  Rus- 
sian-made power  tubes:  the 
3CX800A7  (available  this 
summer)  and  8874/3CX400A7 
(available  worldwide  right  now). 
For  more  information,  contact 
Svetlana  at  3000  Alpine  Road, 
Portola  Valley  CA  94028,  or  call 
them  at  (650)  233-0429. 


200  Watts  Out  from  HT 
or  Mobile 

MiRAGE's  new  B-32Q-G, 
the  BruteFORCE™  dual-pur- 
pose amp,  gives  you  200  watts 
of  brutal  power  from  your  low- 
power  TIT  or  high-power  mo- 
bile! It's  two  amps  in  one — a 
switch  selects  a  0,25  to  10  W 
hand-held  amp  or  10  to  50  W 
mobile  amp. 

The  LED  PowerGraph™ 


indicates  output  power  and 
comes  completely  alive  with  200 
watts.  It  gives  you  all-mode  FM/ 
SSB/CW  2  meter  operation.  A 
low-noise  15  dB  GaAsFET 
preamp  lets  you  dig  out  really 
weak  stations  and  can  be  used 
even  if  your  B-320-G  is  ofT  The 
B-320-G  has  an  on/off  switch 
with  a  '"power  on"  LED.  It's  su- 
per rugged  and  super  compact, 
and  comes  with  mounting  brack- 
ets and  rubber  feet,  and  of  course 
it's  covered  by  MIRAGE'S  one- 
year  warranty. 

For  your  nearest  dealer,  call 
(800)  647-1800;  FAX  (601) 
323-6551;  or  cheek  out  the 
Web  site  at  [http;//www. 
mirageamp.com]. 


Get  Your  Legal  Limit 

AMERITRONTs  new  ATR- 
30,  the  True  Legal  Limit™  an- 
tenna tuner,  allows  sustained 
true  RF  output  levels  of  over 
1 500  W  continuous  carrier  into 
most  load  impedances.  It  also 
handles  3000  W  continuous 
SSB,  and  CW  duty,  even  on 
160  meters,  wfiere  most  other 
antenna  tuners  Fail.  It  easily 


handles  the  AL-1500,  AMER- 
ITRONTs  highest-power  amplifier. 

The  newr  high-Q,  high-cur- 
rent, edge- wound  silverplated 
roller  inductor  handles  extreme 
voltages  and  currents  without 
arcing  or  heating.  The  ATR-30 
is  loaded  wiih  features  you'll 
flip  over — the  three-core  choke 
balun.  the  illuminated  cross- 
needle  true-peak-reading  SWR/ 
wattmeter,  and  AM ER I TRON  's 
superb  one-year  warranty,  just 
to  name  a  few! 

For  your  nearest  dealer  or  or- 
dering information,  check  out 
the  Web  site  at  [http://www. 
ameritron.com];  otherwise, 
call  (800)  647-1800  or  FAX 
(601)323-6551. 


Solder  and  Save  the  Planet! 

Since  1956,  CAIG  Laboratories  has  been  manufacturing  high- 
quality  electronics  chemicals  and  soldering  apparatus  for  elec- 
tronic/electrical applications  for  all  industries.  They  are  constantly 
expanding  their  line  of  environmental  ly-safe  products  . . .  and  as 
we  all  are  aware,  saving  the  environment  is  the  only  way  to  save 
ourselves! 

CAIG  Laboratories'  new  catalog  features  a  variety  of  prod- 
ucts to  improve  conductivity  and  maintain  optimum  signal  qual- 
ity on  connectors,  probes,  switches,  and  other  electrical  contacts. 
Write  for  a  copy  of  the  catalog  to  CAIG  Laboratories,  12200 
Thatcher  Court,  Poway  CA  92064;  call  them  at  (619)  486-8388; 
or  visit  the  Web  site  [http://www.ca ig.com]  for  more  informa- 
tion— and  do  your  part  to  make  our  world  a  better  place. 


48    73  Amateur  Radio  Today  *  March  1999 


Rduertisers'  Indeh 

R.S.#                                    page  R.S.#  page 

All  Electronics  Corp 15  78     Hamsure ..„„.„„.„..„„._  29 

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41  Barry  Electronics  Carp  „.„  19  •        Heights  Tower 57 

42  Btlal  Company 22  42      Isotron , 22 

168      Buckmaster  Publishing 1S  242     Jan  Crystals 27 

56     Buckmaster  Publishing  .....  58  1 56      Japan  Radio  Co CV3 

184     C  &  S  Sales,  inc.  „,„.. 1 1           •  Kactiina 

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10      Communications  86      MFJ  Enterpnses _.  7 

Specialists.  Jnc 11  160  Microcomputer 

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13      Doppler  Systems 49  136  Milestone  Technologies  ....  17 

193      GGTE  - 33  136      Morse  Express 17 


R.S.#  page 

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248     Matron  Electronics 17 

64      Mouser  Electronics  .«♦ 39 

•       MultiFAX 19 

Omega  Sales 19 

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PC  Electronics  , 35 

Peel  Bros 57 

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Radio  Book  Shop ...,„..  64 


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241  Seagon  Company 59 


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kuiV.ih'i  I  'li 

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Km  I  L'|  in. 

Metii'n  ttrp- Mi    ■ 

......  "."■", 

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73  Amateur  Radto  Today  *  March  1999    49 


Number  50  on  your  Feedback  card 


Rboue  &  Beyond 


VHF  and  Above  Operation 


C.  L  Houghton  WB6IGP 
San  Diego  Microwave  Group 
6345  Badger  Lake  Ave. 
San  Diego  GA  92 119 
[clbough@pacbelLnet] 


10  GHz  funT  1999  update, 
part  2:  the  Gunn  diode 
modulator  power  supply 

Last  time,  we  covered  con- 
struction of  the  Ramsey  FR-IQ 
30  MHz  FM  TF  system  for  our 
microwave  transceivers  for  use 
on  both  10  GHz  and  24  GHz. 
This  month,  I  want  to  complete 
the  construction  of  the  trans- 
ceiver package,  with  discussion 
about  the  additional  circuitry 
required  in  the  transmitter  portion 
of  the  system. 

The  power  supply  modulator 
in  a  wideband  FM  system  is 
quite  simple  in  that  DC  voltage 
is  used  to  power  a  Gunn  diode 
in  a  microwave  cavity,  The  24 
GHz  Gunn-varaclor-controlled 
transceiver  can  be  obtained  from 
SHF  Microwave  Supply  [arufzto 
shfniicro.com]:  phone:  (123) 
456-789;  FAX:  (123)  456-789. 
The  30  MHz  receiver  was  ob- 
tained from  Ramsey  Electronics, 


793  Canning  Parkway,  Victor 
NY  14564;!  (800)  446-2295 
will  get  you  the  order  desk  for 
the  FR- 10  30  MHz  receiver. 

A  little  review  is  in  order  due 
to  di  (Terences  between  10  and 
24  GHz  Gunn  oscillators.  For  10 
GHz.  the  Gunn  voltage  is  in  the 
5  to  1 0  V  range.  Current  require- 
ments depend  on  the  power  out- 
put of  the  Gunn  device.  Ten 
milliwatt  Gunn  sources  draw 
about  50  to  100  mA  of  current, 
while  1 00  mW  devices  can  draw 
as  much  as  600  mA,  24  GHz 
Gunn  diodes  require  lower  volt- 
ages to  function  than  the  1 0  GHz 
devices  do.  Nominal  voltage  for 
a  24  GHz  Gunn  de\  ice  is  in  the 
3  to  6  V  range,  with  require- 
ments similar  to  those  of  the  10 
GHz  devices  with  regard  to 
power  and  current  drawn. 

The  power  supply/modulator 
for  either  circuit  is  quite  the 
same.  In  each  case,  the  power 
supply  is  constructed  from  a 


A  +t2V 


10  GHz 

GUNN  DtODE 

+6V  to  +10V 


47K      TTqmF     I    317 


ELECWT  yJ, 
MIC     **f 
R5  #270-090 


/77 


470  >       ?P 


10  pF 


ft? 


*  SEUJCTVALUE  FOG 
VOLTAGE  ADJUST  SOMEN 
+6.5V  AND +10.0  V 


Fig*  L  Schematic  for  power  supply  modulator  for  10  GHz  Gunn 
diode  source  requiring  +IQ  volts  without  varactor  control.  You 
must  use  an  LM3 17  adjustable  regulator  for  the  circuit  to  func- 
tion with  modulation,  A  7810  voltage  regulator  will  not  function 
as  a  regulator,  having  only  in/out  and  ground,  and  no  reference 
terminal. 


single  LM317  adjustable  volt- 
age regulator.  For  systems  that 
use  a  varactor  diode,  the  Gunn 
diode  voltage  is  set  at  a  fixed 
value  near  its  maximum  voltage 
of  around  +5  V,  depending  on 
diode  specifications  for  that  par- 
ticular diode.  Then,  to  adjust  fre- 
quency, another  variable  resistor 
varies  voltage  on  Ihe  varactor  to 
adjust  frequency  of  operation. 

The  modulator  mike  amplifier 
of  the  circuit  can  be  a  single 
transistor  or  an  op  amp.  In  the 
case  of  varactor  cavities,  the 
mike  amp  is  connected  to  the 


adjust  terminal  td  the  varactor 
regulator.  Audio  from  the  mike 
is  a  small-value  AC  component 
now  riding  on  the  regulator  ad- 
just terminal  of  the  variable  volt- 
age regulator. 

When  the  mike  audio  (a 
small-value  AC  \okaeel  \< 
added  to  the  fixed  DC  voltage 
on  the  regulator,  it  causes  the 
output  voltage  to  vary  at  the  au- 
dio rate,  producing  a  change  in 
frequency  varying  at  the  audio 
rate,  This  produces  FM  (fre- 
quency modulation)  on  the 
transmit  signal,  The  amount  of 


The  Digital  Port 

continued  from  page  47 

their  kits.  They  were  the  ones 
who  supplied  the  hard-to-get 
packet  serial  modem  kit  that  I 
wrote  about  some  months  back 
and  they  have  a  reasonably 
priced  tuner  in  kit  form,  or  it 
can  be  purchased  assembled. 
Their  Web  site  is  also  listed  in 
Tablet. 

I  see  that  the  packet  serial 
modem  has  been  removed  from 
their  new  Web  site.  It  could  be 
(though  1  doubt  it  seriously) 
that  when  I  wrote  about  this 
wonderful  packet  modem  that 
you  folks  simply  cleaned  them 
out  and  that  was  the  last  of  the 
inventory.  More  likely,  it  was 
such  a  small  item  and  was  a  bit 


temperamental  and  possibly  re- 
quired more  technical  sen' ice 
replies  than  the  profit  could 
cover.  The  market  has  passed 
away  on  this  item.  There  are  a 
number  of  reasons  as  1  discussed 
in  a  previous  column. 

Anvwav,  there  are  eicht  items 
listed  and  you  miglu  want  to 
take  a  look.  In  addition  to  the 
regular  tuner  I  intend  to  order 
there  is  a  low-current-draw  QRP 
tuner,  two  small  computer  boards 
for  special  control  projects,  relays 
to  work  with  the  computers,  a  re- 
peater voting  system,  a  balun  kit 
and  a  nifty-looking  headphone 
speaker  box  to  use  between  the 
output  of  your  radio  and  your 
computer  speakers. 

One  more  item  that  looks  like 
a  winner  comes  from  Timewave, 


the  folks  who  absorbed  AEA. 
They  already  build  a  whale  of  a 
sreat  DSP  unit,  the  D$P-599z\ 
(which  is  a  must-install  for  the 
mobile  installation  here),  that 
works  very  well  when  coupled 
with  the  old  iron-horse  ABA 
PK-232,  and  a  great  RTTY  pro- 
gram to  use  directly  with  the 
modem  in  the  DSP-599zx. 

Now  they  have  developed 
something  unique  just  for  the 
PK-232.  They  offer  a  DSP  up- 
grade that  works  in  all  modes, 
including  RTTY.  FACTOR,  CW 
and  packet.  This  makes  it  possible 
to  have  excellent  DSP  perfor- 
mance for  the  PK-232  for  125  or 
150  dollars  depending  on  whether 
there  is  already  a  daughterboard 
in  place.  You  can  read  about  it  on 
their  Web  site  (see  Table  1 ), 


I  had  a  recent  E-mail  asking 
where  to  purchase  a  PK-232.  I 
replied  that  I  had  seen  a  num- 
ber of  used  ones  on  the  market 
in  the  SI 00  range.  I  might  also 
mention  that  if  you  look  quickly, 
there  may  still  be  a  closeout  spe- 
cial from  Timewave  on  the  DSP- 
232  Multimode  for  $100  listed 
on  their  Web  site.  I  have  had  my 
PK-232MBX  lor  so  long  that  I 
wouldn't  consider  trading  it,  but 
dial  new  S 1 00  multimode  would 
sound  good  to  someone  who  has 
none. 

If  you  have  questions  or  com- 
ments about  this  column.  E-mail 
me  at  [jheHer(a;Sierra.net]  and 
or  CompuServe  [72 130  J  352].  I 
will  gladly  share  what  I  know 
or  find  a  resource  lor  you.  For 

now,  73,  Jack  KB7NO.         ~~ 


50  73  Amateur  Radio  Today  •  March  1 999 


audio  when  increased  affects  the 
deviation  of  I  he  transmitter  1M 
The  audio  voltage  (very  small 
AC  voltage)  rides  on  lop  of  the 
DC  varactor  control  voltage  that 
is  used  to  set  the  RF  frequency 
of  operation. 

Quite  a  simple  scheme,  mike 
audio  to  FM  in  a  voltage  regu- 
lator  circuit.  In  the  Gunn  diode 
without  varactor  frequency  con- 
trol, the  audio  is  connected  to 
the  Gunn  diode  volume  reeula- 
tor  adjust  terminal  to  function 
much  the  same  as  in  the  \  aractor 
scenario.  The  non-varactor  cav- 
ity setup  is  hampered  with  less 
frequency  agility  than  varactor 
cavities  allow.  Frequency  agil- 
ity is  quite  good  with  varactor 
cavities*  making  them  more  ex- 
pensive and  desirable.  In  any 
event,  both  work — it's  just  that 
the  varactor  cavity  is  like  a  Lin- 
coln in  comparison  with  an 
economy  car  See  Fig*  1  for  the 
power  supply  modulator  circuit 
fora  basic  Gunn  oscillator  cavitv 
without  varactor  control, 

A  simple  circuit  uses  a  single 
2N2222  NPN  transistor  far  the 
audio  amplifier  mike  amp,  as 
shown  in  Fig.  2,  The  LM317 
circuit  is  similar  for  all  applica- 
tions, whether  with  10  or  24 
GHz  Gunn  sources.  The  only 
differing  factor  is  the  voltage 
required  for  the  Gunn  diode 


approximately  10  volts  fora  10 
GHz  diode  and  a  value  of  about 
five  volts  for  a  24  GHz  diode, 

With  most  systems  operating 
from  -+- 1 2  volts  DC,  a  direct  con- 
nection  to  the  LM317  will  be 
sufficient,  with  a  modest  heat 
sink  to  dissipate  heat.  For 
higher-current  operation  for 
hit*h-current  diodes,  use  a 
bootstrapping  NPN  pass  transis- 
tor to  increase  the  regulator's 
current  handling  ability.  Almost 
any  NPN  transistor  will  work.  I 
used  a  TO-220-case  2N3055,  as 
it  was  in  my  junk  box.  Any  mod- 
est current  device  with  work, 
too.  Use  an  insulating  mount  ro 
secure  the  transistor  to  a  chas- 
sis, as  the  back  of  the  device  is 
the  collector  and  needs  to  be  in* 
sulated  on  the  heat  sink.  See  Fig. 
4  for  circuit  details. 

Bypass  the  emitter  of  the 
NPN  pass  transistor  with  a  10 
^iF  or  more  cap  (value  not  criti- 
cal) to  minimize  noise  on  the 
DC  line  from  the  regulator.  By 
looking  on  a  scope,  1  found  that 
at  this  emitter  output  point  1  had 
quite  an  AC  oscillation  when  the 
regulator  was  combined.  I  elimi- 
nated the  oscillation  with  a  40  jaF 
capacitor  between  the  emitter  of 
the  2N3055  and  ground-  I  just 
grabbed  the  first  tantalum  out  of 
the  junk  box — I  suspect  that  a  1 0 
)aF  would  work  just  as  well 


10  GHz 
GUNM  DIODE 

+6V1O+10V 

t O 


FREG  ADJUST 
TO  VARACTOR 
040VW/M0D 


Eiicrarr 

MIC 
RS  #270-090 


Fig,  2.  10  GHz  schematic  changes  for  varactor  control  mike  au- 
dio applied  to  varactor  for  FM  modulation.  Audio  voltage  is  su- 
perimposed on  top  of  varactor  DC  control  voltage  that  is  used  for 
frequency  tuning.  The  LWI7  could  he  replaced  here  by  a  fixed 
7818  voltage  regulator  and  used  for  both  Gunn  and  varactor  sup- 
ply. Two  regulators  are  used  in  this  example  for  demonstration 
purposes. 


ElECTMT 
RSI27CHW0 


24  GHz 
GUNN  DJODE 
FIXED  +SV0C 

O 

Dto-12VDC 

VARACTOR 

FREQUENCY 

CONTROL 

WW1QD 


TtOpF   |  TjO^F 


+51©C 


5WTTCHNG 

SUPPLY 

MOOLAE 


n? 


39K 


AUDIO  MODULATION 


Fig.  J.  Schematic  changes  when  using  24  GHz  Gunn  diode  source 
and  varactor  tuning  arrangements.  Note  that  on  the  24  GHz  cav- 
ity the  varactor  uses  a  negative  voltage  for  control  of  frequency 

adjustment,  Gunn  diode  voltage  must  he  reduced  to  the  required  5 
to  6  V  range.  Verify  your  diode  s  maximum  voltage  before  apply- 
ing power  Note  the  addition  of  a  small  isolated  switching  PC- 
board-mount  power  supply  added  to  obtain  the  inverted  negative 
output  for  varactor  tuning  voltage.  The  power  supply  can  be  very 
small,  as  current  required  is  less  than  1  mA. 


Check  out  I  he  power  supply 
modulator  using  a  basic  scope 
if  you  have  one.  Look  at  the  DC 
voltage  output  and  set  the 
LM3 1 7  up  for  whatever  voltage 
is  required — in  the  case  of  our 
vuracloT-Lonirolled  10  (il  \z  sys- 
tem, this  will  he  -  I  0  volts 
non variable.  The  varactor  is 
driven  with  n  positive  voltage 
and  is  DC -adjustable  from  zero 
to  +12  volts.  Verify  voltage  op- 
eration and  then  use  the  scope 
to  verify  modulation  on  the  AC- 
coupled  scope.  A  few  millivolts 
is  all  that  is  required  of  AC 
modulation  superimposed  on 
the  varactor  DC  voliage  for 
proper  FM  modulation. 

In  operation  with  the  com- 
pleted system,  check  all  your 
power  supply  connections  and 
voltage  requirements  twice  be- 
fore you  connect  up  the  wrong 
polarity  or  wrong  v  oltage  to  the 
precious  Gunn  diode  and  its  as- 
sociated detector  diode*  The  di- 
ode can  be  bypassed  with  both 
a  small-  and  large-value  capaci- 
tor to  lower  frequency  oscilla- 
tions. You  will  find  that  0.001 


and  10  |jF  capacitors  will  do  just 
fine. 

The  detector  diode  needs  a 
DC  return  to  draw  a  little  cur- 
rent to  bias  it  slightly  on.  Most 
any  value  small  RF  choke  near 
30  jiH  or  so  will  suffice.  Run 
shielded  leads  to  both  the  Gunn 
and  detector  diodes.  I  used  min- 
iature coax  (RG-174)  that  was 


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OUTPUT 

WITH  3AS& 


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Fig.  4.  Bootstrap  2N3055  or 
similar  NPN  pass  transistor  is 
added  to  voltage  regulator  cir- 
cuit to  increase  current  han- 
dling capabilities  of  voltage 
regulator.  Note:  There  will  be  a 
0J  volt  drop  in  regulated  volt- 
age out  of  the  regulator  due  to 
voltage  drop  in  the  base  emit- 
ter of  the  pass  transistor  Set 
voltage  regulator  slightly  higher 
to  overcome  voltage  drop  in 
use. 

73  Amateur  Radio  Today  •   March  1999    51 


about  one-eighth  of  an  inch  in 
diameter.  Coax  type  is  not  criti- 
cal; it's  just  required  for  shield- 
ing to  prevent  stray  pickup. 

Again,  1  stress:  Use  different 
connectors  for  the  connections 
to  feed  voltage  and  detection,  lo 
prevent  making  connections  to 
the  wrong  lead.  If  you,  for  in- 
stance, put  the  detector  diode 
into  Lhe  lO-voll  source,  it  will 
destroy  the  costly  detector  di- 
ode. Use  different  connectors 
and  you  can't  make  an  error  in 
connections. 

The  detector  diode  connec- 
tion is  made  directly  to  the  30 
VI  H  7  inpnl  of  [he  Kainsc\  [■[<- 
10  receiver.  With  the  modifica- 
tions described  last  month,  the 
receiver  should  tune  over  a  400 
Id  \z  range  of  frequencies,  mak- 
ing 30  MHz  exactly  the  center 
of  tuning,  Normally,  you  will 
not  have  to  make  any  receiver 
adjustment  in  frequency.  For 
other  stations  that  mi^ht  be 
slightly  off- frequency  from  30 
Mil/,  you  may  need  to  adjust 
slightly  for  received  clarity. 

Operation  on  microwave  is 
full  duplex,  just  like  talking  on 
a  telephone.  With  simple  horn 
antennas,  you  can  communicate 
over  many  miles,  depending  on 
terrain  and  path  conditions.  By 
adding  a  small  (12  inches  in  di- 
ameter) dish  antenna,  yon  can 
increase  available  gain  by  28  dB 


(vs.  a  small  horn,  whose  gain  is 
about  12  dB).  Quite  an  increase 
in  gain  with  such  a  small  dish 
antenna,  The  same  comparison 
is  true  for  24  GHz  operation. 
However,  a  one-foot  dish  at  24 
GHz  would  have  about  35  dB 
of  gain  because  of  its  smaller 
wavelength.  As  frequency  in- 
creases, wavelength  becomes 
smaller,  and  you  get  more  gain 
for  the  same  area  than  at  lower 
frequencies.  Of  course,  that's 
for  a  dish  antenna  optimized  at 
frequency. 

Well,  there  you  go.  The  pack- 
age of  the  Ramsey  FR-10  re- 
ceiver and  the  transmitter 
modulator  power  supply  control 
circuits  should  get  you  on  the  air 
with  simple  wideband  FM  op- 
eration. I  tested  my  circuits  us- 
ing the  Ramsey  receiver,  which 
proved  quite  sensitive  and  of 
great  quality.  The  frequency  1 
used  was  24  GHz,  because  I 
knew  from  past  experience  that 
if  it  worked  here  it  will  perform 
on  10  GHz  just  as  well. 

Why  pick  24  GHz 
for  a  test? 

Wc  wanted  to  complete 
project  testing  in  time  for  par- 
ticipation in  the  ARRL  10  GHz 
and  up  contest.  1  used  my  10 
GHz  narrowband  station  at 
home  and  made  several  con- 
tacts, but  I  really  wanted  to  try 


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24  GHz  for  pure  fun  and  to  see 
if  both  Kerry  N61ZW  and  I 
could  get  operational,  I  con- 
structed and  modified  the  re- 
ceivers and  obtained  some  small 
medical  receivers  lo  use  for  a 
shielded  housing  after  removing 
all  junk  from  the  cabinet  except 
the  fuse  and  on/off  switch,  A 
simple  conversion  of  the  cases 
sure  beat  the  prices  of  new  metal 
cabinets  (hams  are  frugal  at 
times). 

Kerry  N61Z  W  constructed  the 
modulator  power  supplies,  and 
one  evening  two  days  prior  to 
the  contest  we  sat  down,  bench- 
tested  both  units,  and  got  them 
operational.  Kerry  fashioned  his 
10  GHz  dish  with  a  small  C- 
clamp,  to  Fix  the  24  GHz  diode 
assembly  near  focus,  and  that 
allowed  him  to  obtain  quite  a  bit 
of  gain  in  his  system,  possibly 
as  much  as  45  dB  J  did  not  have 
time  to  haul  out  the  dish  Iced 
due  to  commitment  to  our 
grandson's  soccer  game  that 
Saturday  morning,  so  I  used  a 
simple  miniature  horn  antenna 
less  than  an  inch  in  area  for  my 
antenna.  Still,  I  made  contact 
with  Kerry  over  a  short  test 
range  of  about  two  to  three 
miles,  from  Mt.  Helix  to  Kerry's 
front  yard. 

Then  Kerry  and  1  met  on  top 
of  Mt.  Helix  and  communicated 
with  Ed  W60YJ  again  on  24 
GHz  wideband  FM.  He  was  on 
top  of  San  MigueL  where  there 
are  several  television  stations 
and  FM  radio  stations,  besides 
commercial  FM  repeaters-  at! 
co-located  near  his  operation 
point.  We  made  contact  on  24 
GHz,  but  signals  were  so  strong 
from  an  interference  point  that 
£d\s  S-meter  was  pinned,  with 
or  without  24  GHz  signals.  Both 


Kerry  and  I  were  able  to  hear 
sync  buzz  from  the  very  power- 
ful video  UHF  transmitter,  even 
at  some  1 2  miles  distance.  All  in 
all,  it  made  for  a  very  interest- 
ing day  and  lots  of  enjoyment. 

In  retrospect,  I  eaivt  give 
enough  praise  to  the  Ramsey 
FR-10  receiver.  It  delivered  in 
many  areas,  including  the  most 
important  one,  cost.  It  is  very 
inexpensive  at  $35,  and  outper- 
forms similar  systems.  It  comes 
with  all  component  parts,  a  qual- 
ity PC  board,  and  easy  assem- 
bly instructions.  In  Field  tests 
that  wc  ran,  it  proved  to  be  a 
very  important  player,  and 
worked  far  better  than  I  had 
hoped,  If  you  haven't  picked  one 
up  yet,  do  so  if  you  intend  at  all 
to  get  on  wideband  FM,  You 
should  not  pas.s  up  this  line  bar- 
gain. 

Next  time,  1  want  to  get  into 
the  test  equipment  that  was  con- 
structed to  allow  our  testing  at 
24  GHz.  1  will  bet  your  work 
bench  is  in  the  same  boat  mine 
was,  with  nothing  above  1 8  GHz 
in  the  testing  arena.  Well,  my  old 
8551  20-year-old  (or  older) 
spectrum  analyzer  goes  to  blue 
light  with  external  mixers,  but 
in  reality,  it's  not  very  good  with 
regard  to  what  it  sees.  Next  time 
well  describe  what  circuitry  was 
assembled  to  do  quality  testing  at 
24  Gl  I/.  The  approach  is  not  lim- 
ited to  only  this  frequency  but  can 
be  applied  to  others  as  well — even 
lower  ones — depending  on  your 
testing  needs. 

The  main  ingredient  needed 
is  a  spectrum  analyzer  that  can 
cover  up  to  a  GHz  or  so.  We'll 
let  you  in  on  the  plot  next  month 
and  describe  what  we  came  up 
with.  73  for  now,  Chuck 
WB6IGP. 


If  you're  a  NoCode  Tech,  and  youVe  having  fun  op- 
erating, tell  us  about  it!  Other  No-Code  Techs  will 
enjoy  reading  about  your  adventures  in  ham  radio — 
and  well  pay  you  for  your  articles.  Yes,  lots  of  nice 
clear  photos,  please.  Cad  Joyce  Sawtelle  at  800-274- 
7373  to  get  a  copy  of  liHow  to  Write  for  73  Magazine." 


52    73  Amateur  Radio  Today  •    March  1999 


Hrmsrts 


Number  53  Ort  your  Feedback  card 


Amateur  Radio  Via  Satellites 


Andy  MacAlhster  W5ACM 
14714  Knights  Way  Drive 
Houston  TX  77083 


On  November  3,  1997,  cos- 
monaut Pavel  Vinogradov  hand- 
launched  Sputnik  40w  during  a 
spacewalk,  from  the  MIR  space 
station.  This  three-kg  amateur- 
radio  satellite  was  built  bv  stu- 
dents  at  the  Jules  Reydellet 
College  in  St..  Denis  on  Reunion 
Island  and  the  Polytechnic 
Laboratory  of  Nalchik  Kabar- 
dine  in  the  Balker  Republic 
(Russian  Federation),  AMSAT- 
France,  L'Aeroclub  of  France, 
and  the  Russian  Astronomical 
Federation  also  participated. 
The  satellite  was  built  to  com- 
memorate the  40th  anniversary 
of  the  launch  of  Sputnik  I  on 
October  4,  1 957.  The  Sputnik  40 
transmitter  sent  a  beeping  tone 
on  145.820  MHz  that  repre- 
sented the  satellite's  internal 
temperature. The  lithium  batter- 
ies kept  Sputnik  40  (also  known 
as  RS-17)  on  the  air  lor  about  a 
month,  Check  the  February  1 998 
"Hamsats"  column  for  details. 

Sputnik  41 

They've  done  it  again,  On 
October  25,  1 998.  a  Progress 
rocket  carrying  Sputnik  41  and 


Photo  A.   Sputnik  41    ftS-lSJ 
prior  to  hunch  (F6BVP  photo). 


supplies  for  MIR  was  sent  into 
space.  On  October  27,  Sputnik 
41  was  delivered,  along  with  the 

supplies.  During  a  spacewalkon 
November  10,  Sputnik  41  v\as 
hand-launched  by  cosmonaut 
Sergei  Avdeyev.  Just  before 
launch.  Gennadv  Padalka  told 

- 

Avdeyev  to  "toss  it  gently  to- 
ward  the  moon,"  This  latest 
amateur- radio  satellite  was  a 
joint  project  of  L'Aeroclub  of 
France,  the  Russian  Astronomi- 
cal Federation,  and  AMSAT- 
France, 

Unlike  Sputnik  40,  which 
simply  sent  its  series  of  beeps. 
Sputnik  41  was  designed  to 
broadcast  prerecorded  mes- 
sages in  addition  to  minimal 
telemetry  data.  The  project 
began  in  March  1998.  when 
Victor  Kourilov  (commissar  of 
the  Russian  Aeronautical  Fed- 
eration and  project  leader  for 
Sputnik  40)  invited  the  French 
participants  in  the  Sputnik  40 
project  to  build  a  new  satellite 
celebrating  "1998 — The  Inter- 
national Year  of  Air  and  Space." 

The  Sputnik  41  IRS- IS  project 
had  a  very  short  fuse,  even  for 
a  simplistic  satellite.  Seven 
months  after  the  invitation  to 
create  a  new  Sputnik,  the  com- 
pleted ilight-ready  device  was 
to  be  aboard  MIR  and  ready  for 
launch,  Gerard  Auvray  F6FAO, 
AMS  AT-France  "S  vice  president 
of  engineering,  had  an  engineer- 
ing model  completed  w  ithin  a 
few  months.  By  September  5, 
he  had  personally  delivered  the 
finished  satellite  to  Moscow. 
Project  financing  came  from 
L"  Aeroclub  of  France  in  celebra- 
tion of  their  1 00th  anniversary. 

Sputnik  41  weighs  less  than 
10  pounds  (about  four  kg)  and 
is  a  one-third  scale  replica  of 
Sputnik  I.  The  new  satellite  is 


Photn  fi*  RS-18  system  with  voice  module  above  and  two-meter 

transmitter  below  (F6BVP  photo). 


an  eight-inch-diameter  sphere 
with  four  swept-back  antennas  set 
for  circular  polarization.  It  trans- 
mitted 200  mW  on  145,8125 
MHz  using  FM  while  the  inter- 
nal batteries  worked.  The  satel- 
lite was  designed  to  function 
for  one  month.  It  did.  The  last 
signals  from  Sputnik  41  were 
copied  on  December  I  l+  I^N. 

During  its  short  life,  the  sat- 
ellite sent  two  prerecorded  voice 
messages  in  three  languages,  a 
recording  of  the  beep  signals 
from  Sputnik  1  in  1957.  and  Us 
own  audio  lone  sequence  for 
satellite  temperature  determina- 
tion. The  onboard  recorded  mes- 
sugL-  was  stored  in  a  2S-pin 
device  from  Information  Stor- 
age Devices.  Inc.,  capable  of 
holding  90  seconds  of  good- 
quality  (6*3  kHz  sampling) 
monophonic  audio.  The  trans- 
mitter was  not  keyed  continu- 
ously, but  only  when  a  pre- 
recorded, or  telemetry,  message 
was  being  sent,  This  helped  con- 
serve battery  life,  since  there 
were  no  solar  panels. 

The  first  of  the  two  messages 
sent  by  Sputnik  41  was,  "1998 
was  the  International  Year  of 
Air  and  Space/'  It  was  read  by 
Constantm  Tsiolkvosky-Sam- 
bourov,  the  14-year-old  son  of 
Sergej  Sambourov  RV3DR  and 
great-grandson  of  Konstantin 
Tsiolkvosky.  reputed  inventor  of 
manned  rockets.  The  second 
message  was,  "International 


space  school  Sputnik  program." 
It  was  read  by  Victor  Kourilov, 

the  project  leader.  The  French 
and  Russian  versions  of  the  two 
messages  were  read  by  other 
students  and  members  of  the 
design  team. 

The  frequency  of  the  tone  sig- 
nal sent  by  Sputnik  4!  between 
transmissions  of  the  90-second 
prerecorded  segment  was  pro- 
portional to  the  satellite's  inter- 
nal temperature.  A  tone  of  440 
Hz  corresponded  to  a  tempera- 
ture of  -20  degrees  Celsius, 
while  a  1200  Hz  tone  repre- 
sented +20  degrees  Celsius. 
Check  out  the  plot  of  audio  fre- 
quency vs.  temperature  in  Photo 
D. 

Did  you  hear  the  signals  from 
Sputnik  41  during  its  short  life 
in  orbit?  AMSAT-France  is  of- 
fering a  QSL  card  confirming 
reception  reports.  Send  your 
report  to: 


Photo  C  Hew  of  the  voice 
module  on  RS-18  includes  a 
90  second  memory  chip  and 
supporting  circuitry. 


73  Amateur  Radio  Today  •  March  1999    S3 


Hertz 


-40     -30    -20     -10       0     +10    +20    +30     +40    +50 

Temperature    "C 


Photo  Z).  Plot  of  the  audiofrequency  vs.  temperature  chart  for  the 
audio  beeps  from  RS-18  (F6BVP  photo). 


AMSAT-France, 

QSL  Spoutnik  41, 

14  bis  rue  des  Gourtis, 

F-92500  Rucil-Malmaison 

FRANCE. 

Send  your  QSL  card  or  letter. 
along  with  two  lRCs  (Interna- 
tional Reply  Coupons)  and  a 
six-inch  by  nine-inch  SAE  (self- 
addressed  envelope).  Expect  to 
pay  $1.00  postage  (over  one- 
half,  but  less  than  one  ounce)  to 
get  all  of  these  items  to  France 
in  your  airmail  envelope. 

To  find  out  more  about  the 
Sputnik  40  and  41  satellites, 
check  out  Web  pages  by 
A  MS  AT- France  President  Ber- 
nard Pidoux  on  the  Internet  at 
[http://www.ccr.jussieu.fr/ 


physio/sputnik41  .html J.  Useful 
links  to  AMSAT-France  and 
other  interesting  sites  are  in- 
eluded  in  Bernard's  pages. 

But  there's  more  ... 

AMSAT-France  and  the  other 
groups  involved  with  Sputnik  40 
and  41  have  more  projects 
planned  for  1999  and  beyond.  I  f 
you  missed  these  two  Phase- 
One-slvle  (low  orbit  and  short 
life)  hamsais,  there's  another 
one  coming  this  year.  When 
Sputnik  40  was  sent  to  MIR  in 
1997,  two  electronics  modules 
were  sent.  It  is  hoped  that  with 
a  few  more  components,  the 
backup  system  can  be  com- 
pleted and  released  later  this 


Photo  E.  The  RS-17  and  RS-18  crew.  Left  to  right  and  hack  to 
front:     lector   Kourilov,    Gerard   Auvray    Sergej    Samboarov, 
Constantin  Samboarov,  and  Michael  Samhoitrov  (F6BVP photo). 
54    73  Amateur  Radio  Today  ■   March  1999 


Photo  F  Gerard  Auvray  F6FAO 

with  the  RS- 1 7  satellite  prior  to 
launch  (F6BVP photo). 


year  from  MIR.  It  will  likely  be 
called  Sputnik  42  or  RS-19.  It  is 
also  hoped  that  the  new  sputnik 
can  be  launched  by  Jean-Pierre 
Haignere  during  his  visit  to 
MIR. 

SATEDU  is  slated  for  launch 
in  2000.  It  is  a  small  educational 
satellite  that  includes  a  simple 
computer  and  various  radio  ex- 
periments. It  will  broadcast  data, 
images,  and  possibly  HTML 
(Hypertext  Markup  Language) 
pages  on  two  meters  at  400 
baud.  A  move  to  1200-baud 
AFSK  on  FM  may  occur  before 
the  design  is  finalized. 

Maelle  is  a  more  serious  digi- 
tal communications  satellite  set 
for  completion  and  launch  in  the 
year  200 1 .  It  is  to  be  a  low-earth- 
orbit  satellite,  but  will  be  avail- 
able for  serious  two-way  digital 
communications  using  VHF, 
UHF,  and  SHF  frequencies. 

Don't  miss  the  next  Sputnik/ 
RS   hamsat.    Listen    to    the 


Photo  G.  SATEDU  is  scheduled 
for  launch  in  2000. 


Photo  H*  Maelle  is  larger  and 
more  complex  than  SATEDU. 
It  is  set  for  launch  in  2001. 


AMSAT  nets,  and  keep  up  with 
the  news  via  AMSAT's  Web  site 
at:  [http://www.amsat.org]. 


Number  54  on  your  Feedback  card 

Uportes 


Don't  Fry  Your  Pot! 

In  "Mods  for  the  OUR 
1 00A,*'  February  1999  issue, 
Fig,  3  on  page  32  contains  an 
important  oversight.  The  I  Ok 
pot  shown  should  be  con- 
nected NOT  to  PI 00,  which  is 
the  DC  supply  ( ! ),  but  instead 
to  PI 04. 

Not  VERVE,  FFRF! 

In  Wayne's  "Never  Say  Die" 
editorial  in  the  January  issue,  he 
recommended  a  book  called  In 
God  We  Trust,  a  controversial 
examination  of  the  Bible. 

Somehow,  in  the  last  phases 
of  putting  the  January  issue  to- 
gether, the  name  of  the  com- 
pany transmogrified  from 
FFRF  to  VERVE.  A  number  of 
interested  people  ordered  the 
book,  sending  checks  made 
out  to  VERVE,  but  the 
company's  correct  name  is 
FFRF. 

You  can  get  a  copy  of  the 
book  from  FFRF,  Box  750, 
Madison  Wl  5370J  for  $12 
ppd. 


Number  55  on  your  Feedback  cant 


Enjoy  CW  Rag-Chewing 

Some  pointers  for  good  —  and  fun  —  communicating. 


Bob  Shrader  W6BNB 

11911  Barnett  Valley  Road 

Sebastopol  CA  95472 

[w6bnb@ao!,com] 


To  have  successful   CW  rag- 
chews,  there  are  things  you  can 
do  to  make  your  transmissions 
more  interesting  for  the  operator  at  the 

other  end  and,  most  importantly,  for 
yourself  Good  SSB  rag-chewing  seems 
to  come  naturally;  with  CW  and  other 
modes  it  takes  a  little  more  finesse* 

Start  a  good  rag-chew  by  putting  out 
information  to  the  other  operator  which 
is  interesting  enough  to  produce  an  in- 
teresting reply.  It  may  be  something  as 
simple  as  a  few  comments  about  the 
weather.  If  you  can  get  other  operators 
talking  about  themselves,  you  will 
usually  get  the  ball  rolling  on  an  enter- 
taining information  exchange.  A  big 
help  is  to  determine  what  the  back- 
ground or  pastimes  and  hobbies  are  of 
the  person  at  the  other  end  of  a  QSO. 
You  might  start  a  QSO  by  briefly  men- 
tioning several  things  that  you  are  in 
the  process  of  doing,  or  have  done,  or 
expect  to  be  doing  in  the  near  future, 
Always  try  to  sign  over  with  a  ques- 
tion that  requires  an  answer.  This  can 
help  to  start  a  QSO,  or  keep  one  going. 
If  the  other  operator  bites  on  any  of 
your  items  or  questions  and  comes  up 
with  a  comment  or  answer,  you  may  be 
on  your  way  to  an  interesting  gabfest. 


Of  major  importance  when  rag- 
chewing  on  CW  is  to  send  neither  too 
fast  nor  too  slowly!  Too  fast  and  you 
lose  the  other  operator — too  slowly 

and  you  may  bore  him  or  her  The  CQ 
you  answer,  or  your  CQ  that  is  an- 
swered, plus  the  preliminary  signal  re- 
ports, QTH,  and  name  information, 
will  usually  give  you  a  good  clue  as  to 
the  speed  at  which  you  should  send. 
Start  your  sending  at  the  other 
operator's  speed  if  it  is  not  loo  fast  for 
you.  If  you  would  rather  be  going 
faster,  try  increasing  your  speed  a  little 
each  time  it  is  turned  over  to  you. 
When  questions  you  ask  are  not  being 
answered,  you  are  probably  sending 
too  fast,  so  slow  down  a  little.  If  the 
other  operator  is  sending  too  fast  for 
you  or  is  making  a  lot  of  sending  er- 
rors, don't  be  afraid  to  tell  him  or  her 
to  "QRS"  (send  more  slowly)  and  you 
do  the  same.  If  you  are  sending  faster 
than  the  other  operator  can  read,  he  or 
she  may  try  to  increase  the  sending 
speed  and  make  a  mess  out  of  their 
sending.  Regardless  of  the  speed  at 
which  the  other  operator  is  sending, 
never  try  to  send  at  a  speed  which 
causes  you  to  make  errors.  Poor  send- 
ing results  in  short,  ho-hum  QSOs. 


Be  careful  about  using  too  many  ab- 
breviations on  CW.  If  you  know  the 
other  operator  can  handle  abbrevia- 
tions, go  ahead  and  use  them.  Most 
newer  amateurs  today  will  not  under- 
stand a  lot  of  old-time  hmdline  abbre- 
viations or  others  that  are  dreamed  up 
by  the  other  operator,  which  means 
that  you  may  not  be  able  to  get  your 
information  across.  The  result  will 
be  a  shortened  and  uninteresting  QSO. 
There  are  quite  a  few  abbreviations  al- 
most everyone  will  recognize  and  it 
does  pay  to  use  these.  You  will  prob- 
ably never  get  in  trouble  if  you  spell 
out  most  of  your  words.  After  all  you 
are  not  in  a  race — you  only  want  to  en- 
joy exchanging  interesting  topics  of 
conversation  with  the  other  operator  A 
good  rag-chew  will  normally  require 
good  operating  skills,  w  hether  on  CW, 
phone,  or  any  other  mode. 

It  is  always  best  to  use  "break-in'*  or 
QSK  when  using  CWn  particularly  with 
rag-chews — assuming  your  equipment 
can  be  operated  that  wray.  Some  trans- 
ceivers have  a  "VOX"  switch  which,  if 
turned  to  "Last"  or  "Full"  will  allow 
you  to  hear  what  is  on  your  frequency 
in  between  your  sending  of  CW  dots 
and  dashes,  or  if  you  take  a  breath  on 

73  Amateur  Radio  Today  ■   March  1999    55 


SSB+  ("Slow"  or  "semi"  VOX  is  usu- 
ally of  no  practical  use  on  CW  unless 
the  code  speed  is  extremely  slow, )  To 
reduce  background  receiver  noises 
when  using  QSK,  reducing  your  re- 
ceivcr  RF  gain  may  help.  Different 
transceivers  have  different  wavs  of  al- 
lowing  QSK  to  be  used.  If  separate  re- 
ceivers and  transmitters  are  used,  it  is 
usually  necessary  to  use  two  relays, 
one  to  kev  the  transmitter  and  another 
to  change  the  antenna  from  receiver  to 
transmitter.  If  you  suddenly  hear  sig- 
nals between  dots  and  dashes  while 
you  are  sending,  stop  and  determine  if 
it's  the  other  operator  breaking  you  to 
make  a  comment,  or  if  it's  another  sta- 
tion moving  in  on  you  and  who  will  be 
QRYling  your  QSO.  In  the  latter  case, 
it  might  be  wise  to  QSY  a  kilohertz  or 
so  to  an  uncongested  frequency. 

It  is  imperative  that  you  and  the  CW 
station  you  are  working  to  be  on  the 
same  frequency.  If  not,  you  arc  just 
asking  to  be  QRMed.  Consider  this: 
The  station  you  are  talking  to  is  send- 
ing on  a  frequency  a  few  hundred  hertz 
away  from  yours.  While  you  are  trans- 
mitting, the  other  station's  frequency 
will  appear  unused  to  other  amateurs 
and  one  may  start  operating  on  it.  You 
can't  blame  that  amateur.  You  and  the 
station  you  are  working  are  the  ones  at 
fault.  You  must  always  operate  on  The 
same  frequency  as  the  station  you  are 
working- — you  must  be  ^cro-bcaf 
with  the  other  station.  Be  sure  to  learn 
how  to  zero-beat  your  transmitter  to 
another  station's  transmitting  fre- 
quency. This  is  one  of  the  most  impor- 
tant procedures  for  amateurs  to  learn. 
If  you  call  CQ  on  one  frequency  and 
the  answering  station  is  either  up  or 
down  in  frequency  from  you,  you  can 
ask  that  station  to  move  to  uuir  fre- 
quency  (which  gives  him  or  her  prac- 
tice with  zero-beating),  or  you  can 
zero-beat  the  other  station's  frequency 
afler  advising  of  your  move.  Practice 
zero-beating  until  you  can  do  it  cor- 
rectly and  quickly.  Actually,  if  you're 
within  50  Hz  of  an  exact  zero-heat 
that's  usually  good  enough.  If  your 
transmitter  is  crvstal-controlled  and 
you  cannot  change  your  frequency,  ask 
any  station  you  contact  to  zero-beat 
your  frequency.  If  another  station  tells 

56    73  Amateur  Radio  Today  •  March  1999 


you  that  his  or  her  transmitter  is  crys- 
tal-controlled, you  should  zero-beat 
that  frequency  when  you  come  back. 

If  your  transceiver  has  an  RIT  (Re- 
ceiver Incremental  Tuning)  control 
make  sure  it  is  in  the  "off*  position 
whenever  tuning  around!  If  RIT  is 
detuned  from  its  off  position,  it  can 
cause  a  lot  of  difficulty  on  all  modes  of 
operation  and  usually  results  in  your 
taking  up  more  of  the  band  than  neces- 
sary, Also,  when  operating  in  a  net.  if 
your  RIT  is  detuned  a  couple  of  hun- 
dred hertz  it  can  require  retuning  of 
everybody  else's  receivers  every  time 
you  stun  transmitting.  On-frequency 
operations  are  particularly  important 
for  good  rag-chews  using  any  mode. 

CW  communications  when  QRN  is 
high  can  be  aided  by  using  slower 
sending  speeds.  Unless  keyer  or  bug 
dots  can  be  adjusted  to  put  out  heavier 
than  normal  dots,  it  is  often  best  to 
shift  over  to  the  old  straight  key 
whenever  there  is  bad  QRN  or  QRM 
This  may  often  result  in  extending  an 
enjoyable  rag-chew. 

If  the  other  amateur  docs  not  speak 
English  well,  be  careful  to  use  the  sim- 
plest words  you  can  that  will  convey 
your  information.  Don't  abbreviate  or 
use  sophisticated  or  slang  words  wrhen 
talking  to  foreign  operators  or  they 
may  not  follow  your  meanings  and 
will  tend  to  sign  off  in  short  order.  In- 
formation obtained  from  QSOs  with  for- 
eign amateurs  can  be  most  interesting 
and  informative. 

When  in  communication  with  for- 
eign amateurs,  Q  signals  can  be  very 
useful,  provided  both  panics  are  famil- 
iar with  them.  It  might  be  smart  to 
learn  the  meanings  of  the  very  few  Q 
signals  that  might  be  applied  to  all 
types  of  communications  on  the  ham 
bands  and  make  a  list  of  them  to  keep 
handy.  Q  signals  have  been  in  use  on 
CW  from  the  very  early  days. 

It  is  rarely  useful  to  do  battle  on  the 
air  over  the  use  of  a  frequency.  Sure, 
you  may  have  been  there  first,  but 
don't  be  a  poor  operator  just  because 
those  who  moved  in  on  you  showed 
that  they  were  poor  operators! 

Proper  use  of  the  AGC  control  is  im- 
portant to  make  readability  of  signals 
j  add  to  a  good  rag-chew.  Normally, 


FAST  AGC  works  well  for  both  CW 
and  SSB.  However,  if  you  are  copying 
a  strong  signal  and  weaker  ones  appear 
in  the  background,  set  the  AGC  to 
SLOW  and  the  weaker  signals  will  be- 
come  much  weaker  and  less  annoying. 
Any  strong  static  crashes  will  drive  the 
AGC  circuit's  biasing  voltage  high, 
which  will  desensitize  the  receiver  un- 
til the  capacitor  in  the  AGC  circuit  dis- 
charges. To  overcome  this,  with  strong 
QRN,  turn  off  the  AGC  and  use  the  RF 
gain  control  to  set  the  receiver's  sensi- 
tivity. You  will  miss  fewer  letters  the 
other  operator  is  sending.  If  you  have  a 
good  noise  limiter  or  blanker  it  may  take 
out  some  of  the  peaks  of  static  crashes. 
These  operations  can  greatly  improve 
the  enjoyment  of  a  good  rag-chew  when 
undesirable  operating  conditions  are 
present. 

A  poor  RST  signal  report  has  a  ten- 
dency to  make  an  operator  give  up  on  a 
QSO.  The  best  rag-chews  usually  are 
between  stations  who  are  having  little 
or  no  difficult}  in  hearing  each  other. 
But  donT  depend  on  S-meter  readings 
too  much.  In  many  cases  they  are  not 
true  indications  of  the  readability  of 
the  other  signal.  Basically,  with  no  sig- 
nal, vour  S-meter  needle  should  lie  at 
the  zero  point,  or  there  should  be  no  il- 
lumination of  LED  indicators  (only 
possible  if  there  is  no  background 
noise  at  your  location).  Theoretically, 
the  weakest  signal  that  can  be  heard 
should  move  the  meter  to  the  "S-1M 
point.  A  signal  that  is  6  dB  stronger 
than  that  should  read  "S-2"  A  6-dB  in- 
crease is  twice  the  voltage  (or  four 
times  the  power)  input  to  your  re- 
ceiver, or  will  produce  a  one  S-unit 
higher  indication.  The  difference  be- 
tween any  two  S-units  should  always 
be  6  dB  (assuming  the  manufacturer 
uses  6-dB  S-units).  If  an  operator  tells 
you  that  he  or  she  has  increased  power 
from  25  W  to  100  W.  but  vour  S-meter 
docs  not  show  a  one  S-unil  increase, 
your  meter  is  not  calibrated  correctly 
for  that  band.  Make  tests  like  this  with 
stations  during  a  rag-chew  and  see 
what  your  results  are.  It  can  be  quite 
interesting.  When  QSB  is  bad  you  may 
have  to  use  peak  S-signal  values,  taken 
over  30  seconds  or  so,  for  your  test 
readings.  Try  it  on  each  of  the  different 


bands  you  use-  Most  transceivers  to- 
day have  variable  power  output  with 
meters  that  can  make  these  transmit- 
ting changes  easily  (hopefully  these 
power  meters  are  calibrated  correctly!). 

When  the  S-meter  of  a  receiver  is 
calibrated  at  the  factory,  a  signal  gen- 
erator is  used  to  produce  the  signal. 
Using  signal  generators,  S-units  may 
be  made  exactly  6  dB  removed  from 
the  adjacent  ones.  But  when  we  attach 
an  antenna  to  a  receiver  the  received 
signals  may  be  quite  different.  Sup- 
pose a  dipole  is  only  10  feet  above 
ground  and  a  certain  signal  produces 
an  S-5  reading.  If  the  antenna  could  be 
raised  to  65  feet  the  reading  might  be 
S-6  or  S-7,  depending  on  the  shielding 
by  nearby  trees,  buildings,  etc.,  as  well 
as  ground  reflectivity.  What  is  the  cor- 
rect S-meter  reading?  A  beam  will 
probably  add  at  least  one  S-unit  over 
what  a  dipole  would  produce.  An  S-5 
signal  at  right  angles  to  the  wire  of  a 
dipole  should  normally  read  S-6  or 
higher  with  a  beam  at  the  same  height. 

In  many  cases,  it  can  be  beneficial 
for  operators  to  resort  to  the  old 
method  of  giving  S-meter  readings  by 
using  a  calibrated  ear.  In  the  first  three 
decades  of  ham  radio  there  were  no 
such  things  as  S-meters.  Signal 
strengths  were  all  determined  by  how 
loud  the  signals  sounded  with  the  RF 
gain  control  (if  the  receiver  had  such  a 
thing)  set  to  some  predetermined  level. 
Practice  listening  to  signals  and  judg- 
ing their  RST  strengths  before  looking 
at  your  S-meter  reading.  You  can  be- 
come surprisingly  accurate  with  a  little 
practice.  If  you  turn  off  the  AGC  and 
control  the  signal  loudness  by  using 
the  RF  gain  control,  you  can  become 
quite  accurate.  On  some  bands  it  will 
be  the  only  way  to  give  reasonable  "S- 
meter"  ("S-by-ear"?)  reports. 

An  interesting  question  comes  up:  If 
an  S-meter  varies  up  and  down,  what 
report  should  be  given — the  peak,  the 
minimum,  the  average  of  the  two?  The 
one  that  will  make  the  operator  at  the 
other  end  of  a  rag-chew  feel  best  is  the 
peak  indication,  and  it  is  as  good  as 
any  other.  As  the  band  changes,  the  S- 
meter  peak  readings  will  change.  This 
can  be  an  interesting  item  on  which 
both  the  other  operator  and  you  can 


comment.  Watch  what  your  S-meter  is 
doing  and  tell  the  other  operator  about 
it  during  the  QSO.  It  should  be  an  item 
of  some  interest. 

After  the  RST,  QTH,  and  name  in- 
formation is  transmitted  in  a  QSO,  the 
usual  items  of  interest  to  start  with  are 
the  transceiver  being  used,  its  RF 
power  output,  and  the  antenna.  If  a 
transceiver  is  not  used,  describe  the  re- 
ceiver and  transmitter  that  are  being 
used,  the  RF  power  output,  and  the 
type  of  antenna  being  used.  Actually, 
your  power  output  and  antenna  details 
are  probably  the  most  interesting 
things  you  can  tell  the  other  operator 
about  your  equipment.  (In  the  old  days 
the  DC  power  input  was  usually  given. 
If  you  only  know  your  DC  power  in- 
put, about  60%  of  that  will  be  an  ap- 
proximate RF  power  output.  Most 
operators  today  can  quote  RF  power 
output  values  because  modern  trans- 
mitters incorporate  calibrated  RF  power 
output  meters,) 

In  the  early  days  of  ham  radio,  the 
kind  of  transmitter,  receiver,  and  an- 
tenna you  were  using  would  take  a 
long  time  to  describe  in  a  QSO,  No 
two  stations  had  the  same.  Everything 
inside  and  outside  the  ham  shack 
might  be  home-brewed,  and  many 
times  with  an  ingenious  use  of  parts 
never  meant  to  be  in  a  radio  station. 
Today  most  equipment  reports  boil 
down  to  the  listing  of  manufacturer 
names,  numbers,  and  letters  to  signify 
what  equipment  is  being  used.  Not  too 
many  amateurs  today  know  the  make- 
up of  either  their  receiving  or  transmit- 
ting circuits,  or  even  details  about  their 
antennas!  A  good  modern  rag-chew 
will  probably  have  to  include  topics 
other  than  what  your  equipment  con- 
sists of,  or  what  home-brew  equipment 
you  are  using. 

Some  subjects  that  I  use  as  bait  to 
get  a  good  rag-chew  going  are  listed 
below.  You  can  probably  add  a  lot  of 
your  own.  While  many  of  the  items  are 
given  as  statements,  if  you  ask  ques- 
tions based  on  these  statements  you 
will  usually  receive  a  lot  of  interesting 
information. 

■Age  (at  least  for  men). 

Continued  on  page  58 


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CIRCLE  58  ON  READER  SERVICE  CARD 

73  Amateur  Radio  Today  •  March  1999    57 


Enjoy  CW  Rag-Chewing 

continued  from  page  57 

•Animals/birds  you  have,  have  had, 
or  are  seen  in  your  area, 

•Antenna  being  used,  others  avail- 
able or  being  planned. 

•Antenna  difficulties,  if  living  in  a 
condo/restricted  area  (many  sympathetic 
ears). 

•Automobiles,  RVs,  boats,  airplanes 
you  have  now,  have  had,  problems 
with  them,  activities  you  have  partici- 
pated in  or  plan  to  be  doing  with  them. 

•Bands  you  like  to  use  and  why, 

•Books/articles  read  lately,  would 
like  to  write,  or  have  written. 

•Camera  equipment,  types  of  pic- 
tures you  like  to  take. 

•Computers  you  have  and  use  in 
amateur  operations. 

•Difficulties  with  trees  and  other 
things  around  your  property. 

•Employment  at  present,  previously, 
or  expected  in  the  future. 

•Gardening  you  do,  have  done,  or 
are  going  to  do* 

•Home  repairing  or  building  you  have 
done,  are  doing,  or  will  have  to  do. 

•If  you  shipped  out  while  in  the  ser- 
vice, interesting  experiences,  navy, 
merchant  marine? 


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CIRCLE  56  ON  READER  SERVICE  CARD 

58   73  Amateur  Radio  Today  •  March  1999 


•Interesting  experiences  you  have 
had  on  trips. 

•Key  being  used:  straight  key,  bugt 
sideswiper,  electronic  keyer,  paddle, 
keyboard. 

•Licenses  other  than  radio:  hunting, 
fishing,  flying,  handgun,  etc. 

•Marital  status,  number  of  kidst 
things  spouse  and  kids  do. 

•Mobile  radio  equipment  you  use, 
have  used,  or  plan  to  use. 

•Modes  you  like  to  work:  CW,  SSB, 
FM,  RTTY,  AMTOR,  packet,  etc. 

•Organizations:  amateur,  military, 
Masons,  Odd  Fellows,  Elks,  etc.,  that 
you  belong  to, 

•Organized  trips  by  boat,  plane,  or  bus 
that  you  have  taken  or  are  planning  to 
take. 

■Other  rigs  and  antennas  you  have 
and  use. 

•Radio  equipment  you  are  working 
on  now  or  have  recently  built 

•Receiver  details,  superheterodyne,  TRF, 
super-regenerative,  bandwidth  being  used 

•Recent  natural  disasters  in  your  area: 
fines,  rain-  or  windstorms,  cyclones,  hur- 
ricanes, tornadoes,  floods,  earthquakes, 

•Retired?  From  what?  What  you 
have  done  since  retiring? 

•Sports,  such  as  archery,  baseball,  bas- 
ketball, boating,  bowling,  fencing,  fish- 
ing, flying  model  or  real  planes,  football, 
golf,  guns/pistols,  hockey,  horseshoes, 
hunting,  ping  pong,  pool,  skating*  skiing, 
swimming,  etc. 

•Traffic  handling  systems  in  which 
you  participate. 

•Transmitter  details,  power  output, 
power  supply  used. 

•Try  tests  with  the  other  amateur  on 
antennas,  transmitters,  keying,  modula- 
tion, etc, 

•TV  and  VCR  equipment  you  have 
and  difficulties  you  have  experienced 
with  it 

•TV  shows  you  enjoy  watching,  on 
standard  channels,  cable,  or  satellite. 

•War  duties,  years,  and  experiences. 

•Weather — always  an  excellent  start- 
ing subject;  temperatures,  sunny, 
windy,  foggy,  rainy,  snowing,  sleeting, 
rainfall  totals,  snowfall  totals,  etc. 

•What  started  you  in  the  ham  radio 
field. 

•When  licensed  as  an  amateur/com- 
mercial operator. 


If  you  can  connect  on  only  a  couple 
of  these  subjects,  you  should  be  well 
along  into  an  interesting  rag-chew  ses- 
sion. I  can  usually  work  a  QSO  into  a 
rag-chew  with  someone  who  is  not  a 
DXer  (and  even  some  DXers  at  times), 
often  a  half-hour  to  an  hour  of  some 
very  interesting  conversations.  This  is 
one  of  the  things  that  ham  radio  should 
do  for  you:  let  you  And  out  what  the 
rest  of  the  amateur  world  is  doing  and 
thinking.  But  don't  be  disappointed. 
There  are  some  hams  who  are  only  in- 
terested in  making  short  contacts,  get- 
ting a  signal  report,  maybe  requesting 
a  QSL  card,  and  saying  73,  With  these 
people  it  may  be  useless  to  try  to  get 
much  interesting  information  out  of 
them.  Once  m  a  while,  even  with  some 
of  these  CW  operators,  if  you  slow 
your  sending  sometimes  you  may  get 
them  to  begin  telling  you  something 
interesting  if  you  happen  to  ask  the 
right  questions.  Many  CW  hams  who 
sound  lite  they  might  be  hotshots 
when  sending  (especially  on  KBs)  but 
make  a  lot  of  mistakes  may  actually  be 
very  poor  at  copying  hand- sent  CW  (as 
are  their  computers).  It  can  be  a  chal- 
lenge for  you  to  see  how  much  you  can 
extract  from  such  operators  by  slowing 
your  sending.  Sometimes  a  really  in- 
teresting QSO  results.  Give  it  a  try  on 
the  30,  40,  80,  or  160  meter  bands.  The 
other  bands  are  usually  used  to  work 
weaker,  DX  stations,  which  usually  is 
not  conducive  to  good  rag-chewing.  If 
you  hook  a  rare  one  you  hate  to  hold 
up  other  stations  who  are  listening  and 
want  to  contact  that  station.  Any  rag- 
chew  you  do  make  with  almost  any 
foreign  station  can  be  unusually  inter- 
esting if  you  can  manage  to  make  it  at 
off  times. 

One  of  the  biggest  but  often  most 
overlooked  advantages  of  good  CW 
rag-chews  is  the  practice  maintaining 
or  improving  operating  skills,  keeping 
the  old  fist  in  good  operating  condi- 
tion, spelling  out  of  your  head,  and  us- 
ing a  card  file  to  provide  accurate 
recall  of  interesting  items  about  other 
station  operators.  We  should  all  try  to 
improve  our  operating  a  little  with 
each  rag-chew.  But  by  far,  the  best  part 
of  rag-chewing  is  that  it  can  be  a  lot  of 
fun — so  give  it  a  try! 


Never  shy  die 

continued  from  page  5 

will  teach  you  how  to  develop  your  psi 
abilities.  It's  The  Psychic  Paradigm, 
ISBN  0-425  16509-5,  200  pp,f  1998, 
from  Berkeley  Books,  a  division  of 
Penguin-Putnam.  Bevy  is  an  excellent 
teacher. 

America,  SRO? 

What  about  our  immigration  policies? 
Should  we  continue  to  let  our  borders 
leak  like  a  sieve?  Or  should  we  get  seri- 
ous about  upholding  our  laws  against  il- 
legal immigration?  On  the  one  side  I 
read  that,  heck,  America  is  a  huge  coun- 
try, with  vasl  areas  either  unoccupied  or 
underused.  Also,  that  we  have  a  need  for  a 
continuous  source  of  people  for  low 
wage  unskilled  jobs.  Let's  consider  those 
arguments. 

If  you've  done  much  traveling,  or  even 
watched  anything  on  TV  besides  ball 
games,  sitcoms  and  Geraldo,  you  know 
why  the  unused  parts  of  our  country  are 
unused*  They're  remote  and  do  not  offer 
an  acceptable  quality  of  life.  Most  of 
'em  are  really  lousy  places  to  live. 

The  fact  is  that  immigrants,  with  very 
few  exceptions,  head  for  our  cities  and, 
almost  all  of  them  being  poor,  they  in- 
crease the  slum  areas  of  our  cities.  They 
contribute  substantially  to  the  crime  rates, 
and  their  kids  often  get  involved  with 
street  gangs.  Just  what  we  need  —  a 
steady  source  of  more  unskilled  poor, 
growing  slums,  and  more  street  gangs. 
More  drug  problems.  More  crime.  More 
law  enforcement  expenses,  even  more 
clogged  courts,  and  a  growing  need  for 
ever  more  prisons.  Remember,  every  in- 
mate costs  us  about  $30,000  a  year  to 
keep  in  prison,  and  thai  money  comes 
out  of  your  paycheck.  And  mine,  dammit. 

In  my  lifetime,  the  population  of  the 
country  has  about  doubled.  I've  seen 
New  York  City  gradually  expand  out  to 
Long  Island,  where  there  used  to  be  farms 
and  now  it's  paved  over  with  shopping 
malls  and  zillions  of  homes.  The  small 
towns  of  northern  New  Jersey  have 
grown  together,  and  the  East  Coast  is  ba- 
sically one  big  city,  reaching  from  New 
Hampshire  to  Washington  DC,  Mega- 
lopolis, we  call  it, 

The  immigrants  are  not  moving  to 
Idaho,  Montana,  or  the  Dakotas,  they're 
going  directly  to  where  the  money  is, 
our  cities.  Hey,  have  you  looked  at  a  map 
of  Southern  California  lately?  Or  Phoe- 
nix, Dallas,  and  Miami?  How  about 
Denver? 

If  we  continue  our  almost  open  border 
policy,  our  city  slums  are  going  to  con- 
tinue to  grow,  pushing  the  more  skilled 
people  into  what  used  to  be  the  suburbs, 


and  our  spacious  plains  are  going  to  con- 
tinue to  be  as  spacious  as  they  were  a 
hundred  years  ago.  And,  unless  we  force 
our  politicians  to  wise  up  on  their  drug 
policies,  we'll  soon  have  two  million 
people  in  prison  instead  of  1 .2  million. 
Instead  of  our  pockets  being  picked  by 
Congress  for  $33  billion  a  year  to  keep 
these  guys  locked  up,  it'll  be  $60  billion. 

Okay,  how  about  all  those  unskilled 
jobs?  Without  a  continuing  source  (mainly 
illegal  immigrants)  of  unskilled  workers, 
the  shortage  of  people  to  fill  these  jobs 
would  force  the  wages  for  this  work  up- 
ward, so  it's  the  large  number  of  un- 
skilled workers  that  keeps  wages  low. 

The  fast  food  restaurants,  for  instance, 
which  are  so  automated  that  they  require 
a  minimum  of  skilled  workers,  would 
start  having  to  pay  more  and,  as  has  hap- 
pened  in  some  areas  where  there  is  a  se- 
rious low-skilled  worker  supply,  start 
hiring  seniors  and  providing  them  with 
some  additional  revenues  to  make  the 
lives  of  those  trying  to  get  along  on  their 
Social  Security  payments  a  little  less 
miserable. 

Without  immigrants,  our  population 
would  be  fairly  stable.  As  people  make 
more  money  they  tend  to  have  smaller 
families,  so  our  population  could  eventu- 
ally shrink  some. 

We've  seen  the  continual  toss  of  low- 
wage  jobs  as  companies  move  these  jobs 
to  lower- wage  countries.  We've  also 
seen  a  large  loss  of  middle-class  jobs 
through  downsizing,  made  possible  by 
low  cost  computer  systems  and  improved 
communications  systems.  We  really  don't 
have  a  need  for  more  unskilled  workers. 
Our  need  is  more  for  higher  skilled  and 
better  educated  workers.  Don't  get  me 
started  on  our  school  system. 

Maybe  it's  time  to  start  closing  the 
borders. 

Advertising  Basics 

Unless  you're  working  for  a  large 
company,  the  government  or  teaching, 
none  of  which  will  ever  make  you  much 
money  or  give  you  much  freedom,  an 
understanding  of  the  basics  of  advertis- 
ing is  going  to  be  of  value  to  you,  so 
you'd  better  either  cut  this  out  and  save 
it,  or  make  a  copy.  Well,  I  threatened  to 
write  about  this  —  and  was  forced  into  it 
by  a  letter  from  Douglas  Diss  VK2TDD 
of  Tamworth,  New  South  Wales,  How 
could  I  disappoint  an  Aussie? 

The  easy  part  of  marketing  a  new 
product  is  designing  the  product.  Since 
most  of  you  are  coming  at  this  from  the 
engineering  end,  you  tend  to  think  that 
it's  the  product  that's  the  most  impor- 
tant, not  the  marketing,  Wrongo,  I've 
seen  many  superbly  designed  products 
bite  the  dust  through  lousy  advertising, 
promotion  and  marketing. 


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CIRCLE  241  ON  READER  SERVICE  CARO 


These  days,  most  ham  products  are  be- 
ing sold  by  mail  order.  In  the  old  days, 
before  the  ARRL  closed  down  85%  of 
the  ham  stores  around  the  country,  most 
ham  products  were  sold  through  these 
stores  —  and  they  were  just  about  every^ 
where.  When  I  started  73  magazine  in 
I960,  I  soon  had  over  850  ham  stores 
selling  the  magazine  over  their  counters. 

So,  unless  you  are  starting  a  really  big 
company,  you'll  probably  hire  someone 
to  do  your  advertising.  Unfortunately, 
the  odds  are  that  this  person  isn't  going 
to  know  squat  about  how  to  do  it.  They 
don't  teach  this  in  schools,  you  know. 
You  have  to  learn  by  doing,  but  unless 
the  person  has  had  his  own  small  busi- 
ness and  learned  the  expensive,  hard 
way,  he  isn't  going  to  know  what  he's 
doing  —  a  fact  which  1  see  clearly  dem- 
onstrated as  I  flip  through  the  ham 
magazine  pages.  Pathetic. 

When  I  started  my  first  company,  the 
first  thing  I  did  was  take  a  course  in  ad- 
vertising. It  was  put  on  by  the  Advertis- 
ing Club  of  New  York  and  was  superb. 
Since  then.  I've  attended  endless  ad 
workshops  and  lectures,  and  I've  been 
doing  that  for  almost  50  years.  Lately 
it's  been  more  me  lecturing. 

Now,  before  I  get  into  how  to  write 

73  Amateur  Radio  Today  *  March  1999    59 


ads,  let's  go  into  how  you 
should  pick  your  ad  medium. 
Advertising  is  going  to  be 
one  of  your  major  expenses, 
so  you  have  to  go  about 
choosing  your  media  care- 
fully. Heck,  you  wouldn't  buy 
supplies  or  parts  from  the 
first  salesman  that  came 
along,  would  you?  No,  you'd 
ask  for  bids  and  look  for  sup- 
pliers who  can  provide  the 
quality  you  need  at  the  best 
price  you  can  find. 

If  you  start  getting  bids  on 
your  sales  brochures  or  in- 
struction manuals  vouTI  be 
amazed  at  how  wide  a  varia- 
tion you'll  find  in  bids.  Some 
printers  charge  double  or 
even  triple  what  others  do, 
and  for  the  same  quality  of 
work. 

Now:  with  advertising,  you'll 
find  yourself  in  a  never-never 
land  of  unsubstantiated  circula- 
tion and  demographic  claims. 
It's  a  jungle  out  there.  Don't 
believe  anyone.  Period. 

Here's  my  advice,  I  can  put 
it  in  four  words.  Test,  test, 
test.  test. 

If  a  magazine  looks  like  it 
will  reach  your  potential  cus- 
tomers, rein  in  your  ego  and 
run  a  small  ad.  When  you  fi- 
nally get  around  to  reading 
books  on  advertising,  and  There 
are  some  good  ones,  you'll 
find  that  there  is  little  correla- 
tion between  ad  size  and  sales 
response.  Eventually  you'll 
take  whatever  space  you  need 
to  tell  your  sales  story,  but  at 
first  what  you  want  to  find 
out  is  which  magazines  are 
going  to  do  the  best  job  of 
selling  your  product.  Make 
sense? 

So.  you  run  a  small  ad  and 
keep  track  of  the  response. 
You  want  to  know  how  many 
potential  customers  send  for 
more  information,  how  many 
order  from  the  ad,  and  how- 
many  of  those  who  get  your 
sales  literature  eventually  buy. 
As  a  simple  rule  of  thumb,  if 
an  ad  doesn't  bring  back  at 
least  1 0  times  the  cost  of  the 
ad  in  sales,  either  your  ad 
stinks  or  vou're  in  the  wronn 
magazine. 

You  may  have  a  gangbusters 
product,  but  that  doesn't 
mean  that  you're  going  to  get 
much  action  from  vour  first,  or 
second,  ad.  Hardly  anything  is 

60    73  Amateur  Radio  Today  •   March  1999 


going    to    happen    at    first. 
That's  the  way  it  is. 

When  I  started  my  Radio 
Bookshop  in  1958.  I  ran  a 
half-page  ad  for  several  books. 
I  got  four  crummy  orders.  1 
thought  I  must  have  made  a 
big  mistake  getting  into  that 
business.  But  magazine  dead- 
lines being  what  they  are,  I'd 
had  to  agree  to  run  the  ad 
again  before  Fd  found  oul 
what  a  turkey  I  had.  The  sec- 
ond ad  pulled  about  40  or- 
ders, Hmmm.  So  I  continued 
advertising  the  same  books, 
By  the  end  of  a  year  that  ad 
was  selling  about  400  books  a 
month!  If  I  d  gone  by  the  four 
sales  the  first  month  Vd  have 
screwed  up  big  time.  As  it  is, 
here  I  am  41  years  later  and 
Radio  Bookshop  is  still  perk- 
ing along  as  a  viable  business, 

I'm  not  going  to  turn  ihis 
into  a  book,  so  when  I  think 
of  it  1*11  explain  more.  The 
sorry  fact  is  that  somewhere 
around  90%  of  the  ads  I  see 
in  the  ham  rags  are  in  desper- 
ate need  of  someone  who  un- 
derstands how  to  advertise. 
These  guys  are  throw  ing  away 
sales  by  the  ton. 

If  you* d  like  to  get  a  head 
start  on  this  you  could  do 
worse  than  read  a  couple  of 
books  by  Joe  Sugarman 
W9IQO.  one  of  the  most  suc- 
cessful mail  order  advertisers 
in  history.  There's  his  Mar- 
kef  tug  Secrets  of  a  Mail  Or- 
der Maverick,  and  his  Adver- 
tising Secrets  of  the  Written 
Wont.  Both  books  are  worth 
their  weight  in  palladium  to 
you  and  they're   heavy! 

Damned  heavy.  They're  both 
S40,  and  a  steal.  You  can  eel 
them  from  Joe  direct;  JS&A, 
3350  Palms  Center  Drive, 
Las  Vegas  NV  89103.  or  by 
phone  at  (800)  323-6400, 
FAX  (702)  597-2002.  And 
please  say  hello  to  Joe  for  me 
—  he's  been  a  good  friend  for 
many  years. 

LSD 

An  uptight  reader  (A  LOFT ) 
got  all  upset  over  my  men- 
tioning that  I  tried  LSD  back 
in  I960.  A  bad  example  for 

my  kiddie  readers  (if  there 
are  any).  Well  I  didn't  go 
into  detail  about  it,  not  think- 
ing anyone  would  be  much 
interested.  I  was  fortunate  in 


that  my  guide  through  the  ex- 
perience was  a  ham  who  had 
been  a  good  friend  for  over 
10  years,  and  who  had 
worked  lor  me  a  few  years 
before.  He'd  gone  on  to  work 
with  Timothy  Leary,  so  he  re- 
ally knew  what  he  was  doing. 
He's  still  a  good  friend  and 
we  visit  through  the  phone 
and  AOL  instant  messaging. 

Having  been  through  it,  Fd 
hate  to  think  how  terrible  the 
experience  could  be  without  a 
first-rate  guide.  Somehow  the 
LSD  amplified  my  senses. 
Enormously.  My  senses  of 
taste,  hearing  feel  ins  and  see- 
ing  were  multiplied  a  thousand 
times.  It  was  incredible!  It 
showed  me  what  my  body  is 
capable  of.  1  just  wish  I  didn't 
have  to  take  a  drug  to  experi- 
ence it.  If  I'd  had  any  nega- 
tive thoughts  I  suspect  they, 
too,  would  have  been  ampli- 
fied  and   could   easilv  have 

pi 

caused  me  harm, 

The  experience  was  worth- 
while for  me,  but  my  ap- 
proach was  as  a  researcher 
and  scientist  rather  than  some- 
one out  for  ajoyride.  I  did  ii. 
Vm  dad.  but  I  don't  recom- 
mend  it  for  others,  and  Vm 
not  going  to  do  it  again.  Been 
there,  done  that. 

The  same  goes  for  pot.  I 
had  a  fabulous  pot  experience 
back  in  1948,  so  1  know  what 
it's  like,  I  did  alcohol  in  1945, 
when  I  was  in  the  navy  and 
on  liberty  in  San  Francisco 
with  my  shipmates.  We  got 
drunk  and  had  a  ereat  time 
doing  it.  We  still  talk  about 
those  nights  at  the  Shamrock 
|  Bar  at  reunions  in  Mobile, 
where  our  old  boat  is  on  dis- 
play for  the  public. 

For  some  reason  I  don't 
seem  to  have  an  addictive  bent, 
except  maybe  when  it  comes  to 
Haagen  Dasz  coffee  ice  cream 
and  crossword  puzzles-  So  I 
like  to  try  things  and  learn 
about  them,  but  I  don't  get 
hooked. 

When  I  travel  I  much  prefer 
going  to  new  places  and  see- 
ing new  things  and  people,  A 
trip  to  Moscow?  Nah,  been 
there,  done  that.  Paris?  Ho- 
hum. 

It's  the  same  with  ham  ra- 
dio. Pve  done  repeaters,  RTTY, 
slow-scan,  packet.  DXing, 
DXpeditions,  10  GHz,  moon- 


bounce,  satellites,  all  of  the 
contests,  aurora  bounce,  build- 
ing stuff,  rag  chewing,  and  so 

on.  Been  there,  done  that.  So 
what's  new  for  me  to  do? 
When  personal  computers 
were  first  developed.  I  got 
into  that.  In  a  very  big  way. 
Done  that.  When  compact 
discs  came  along  a  little  later. 
I  did  that.  Big  way  again. 
Done  that. 

Flying?  Done  that.  Sports 
car  rallies?  Done  that.  World 
travel?  Done  that. 

So  what's  exciting  for  me 
now?  My  work  vs  ith  the  New 
Hampshire  Economic  Devel- 
opment Commission  a  few 
years  ago  got  me  focused  on 
investigating  our  school  sys- 
tem, our  government,  the 
drug  war,  the  war  on  poverty, 
the  welfare  mess,  our  health 
care  system,  and  so  on. 
Gradually  the  pieces  began  to 
fit  together  and  1  began  to  un- 
derstand how  all  of  lis  have 
been  sold  one  hell  of  a  crock 
of  ...  er  ...  baloney  when  it 
comes  to  our  schools,  our 
medical  establishment,  our 
jobs,  our  money,  and  our 
whole  system  of  government 
and  business. 

Once  1  discovered  how  un- 
believably dishonest  every- 
thing really  is.  1  wanted  to 
help  as  many  people  as  I 
could  to  stop  being  sucked  in 
and  free  them  to  be  able  to 
make  all  the  money  thev 
want,  to  regain  their  health 
and  keep  it,  and  then  to  help 
fix  our  major  social  prob- 
lems. I  guess  I  should  apolo- 
gize for  being  a  Johnny  One- 
Note  on  this  Mibject,  but 
that's  the  way  I  was  when  I 

■ 

got  imolved  with  building 
ham  equipment,  RTTY.  then 
with  repeaters,  and  again 
with  personal  computers,  and 
then,  still  again,  with  com- 
pact discs.  Now,  Tin  at  it 
again,  fighting  your  endless 
excuses  and  world  class 
prize-winning  procrastination. 
I've  found  a  path  through 
the  jungle  and  Fm  waving 
for  you  to  follow.  Well,  I'm 
hoping  you  will. 

We  have  what  could  be  a 
really  neat  country.  We  have, 
mostly  through  our  own  care- 
lessness,  allowed  politicians 
to  take  our  money  and  use  it 
to  limit  our  freedoms.  We've 


allowed  our  states  to  confis- 
cate our  homes  ami  property 
with  what  they  call  property 
taxes.  That's  rent,  and  if  you 
don't  pay  the  rent  you'll  find 
out  that  you  don't  actually 
own  your  home.  We've  al- 
lowed them  to  screw  up  our 
schools,  the  medical  system, 
the  courts,  prisons,  and  so  on. 
It's  one  hell  of  a  mess  and  all 
unnecessary-  And  they've  done 
it  all  with  the  money  they've 
taken  from  you  and  me. 

Foxhunting 

The  Garden  City  ARC  news- 
letter mentioned  that  thev  are 
running  foxhunts  once  a 
month,  I  wonder  how  many 
clubs  are  doing  this?  1  sure 
don't  see  much  of  a  sian  of  it 
in  the  club  newsletters  Vm 
getting.  Yes,  I  read  the  news- 
letters. 

How  about  some  letters  or 
articles  for  73  on  foxhunting? 
Maybe  you've  had  some  in- 
teresting  adventures?  Found 
some  unusual  places  to  hide 
the  fox?  Are  your  members 
doing  all  their  hunting  from 
cars  or  are  you  making  them 
get  out  and  walk?  I  think  the 
US  is  the  only  country  where 
much  of  the  foxhunting  is 
done  in  cars.  Hams  in  most 
countries  are  out  there  on  foot. 
It's  good  exercise  for  some  of 
you  pork-bellied  hams. 

What  equipment  are  the 
winners  using? 

Have  you  considered  doing 
some  videos  of  your  hunts? 
I'd  love  to  see  some,  1*11 
never  forget  a  Philmont  film 
which  showed  them  hiding 
the  fox  in  the  women's  toilet 
of  a  police  station,  with  the 
coax  going  out  the  window; 
under  a  lake,  to  the  antenna 
mounted  under  a  little  bridge. 
The  hunting  cars  drove  over 
the  bridge,  with  their  anten- 
nas twirling  to  keep  on  target. 

Ham  clubs  are  desperate 
for  entertainment,  so  if  vou 
can  w  hup  together  some  tun 
foxhunting  material  and  make 
copies  available.  I  think  you II 
get  a  lot  of  good  PR  for  the 
club.  You  might  even  find 
other  local  clubs  interested 
in  seeing  it  too.  like  Lions, 
Elks,  Chambers  of  Commerce. 
Rotary,  etc.  Heaven  knows, 
amateur  radio  can  use  the 
publicity. 


Lost  Memories 

My  aunt  is  in  her  late  90s, 
and  since  my  uncle  died  last 
year  she  hasn't  been  func- 
tioning well.  I  tried  for  sev- 
eral years  to  get  her  to  sit 
down  and  start  writing  about 
how  things  were  in  our  home 
town  when  she  was  young.  It 
was  a  different  world  then, 
and  to  many  of  us,  a  fascinate 
ing  one.  So  it's  too  late  to  get 
her  to  write  now  ...  a  lost 
treasure. 

It  wasn't  until  I  started 
publishing  my  first  magazine 
that  1  did  much  writing.  Now 
I  write  every  day  and  I  enjoy 
it.  Heck,  I  love  it!  There's  so 
much  to  write  about  that  I'll 
never  run  out.  And  no  snide 
comments  about  my  repeat- 
ing myself.  Sure.  I  do  that, 
but  mainly  because  when  I 
wrote  it  the  first  (or  I Oth) 
time,  I  could  see  that  it  didn't 
stick.  Secondarily,  because  1 
write  for  several  publications, 
sometimes  I  forget  what  I've 
written  what  for. 

Okay,  that's  enough  about 
me.  The  person  you  are  most 
interested  in  is  you.  Now, 
how  can  I  get  you  to  start 
writing?  It  gets  easier  and 
more  fun  the  more  you  do  it. 
What  can  you  write  about? 
Hell's  bells,  there  must  be 
something  by  now  that  you 
know  more  about  than  most 
other  people.  Or  some  adven- 
ture you've  had  that  others 
would  be  interested  in  reading 
about. 

Or,  how  about  writing 
about  the  more  exciting  times 
yoifve  had  in  amateur  radio. 
It  might  be  something  I'd  find 
interesting  enough  to  publish. 
And  1  guarantee  that  your 
club  newsletter  editor  will  be 
tickled  to  get  some  help.  I  get 
dozens  of  club  newsletters 
every  month.  Yes,  1  read  'em. 
And  most,  sad  to  say,  are 
deadly  snores,  I  keep  hoping 
to  read  some  stories  about  in- 
teresting foxhunts,  about  ad- 
ventures members  have  had. 
DXpeditions,  and  so  on. 

Oh,  you  haven't  been  on  a 
DXpedition?  Lordy,  what 
does  it  take  to  blast  you  out  of 
that  rut?  I  went  on  my  first 
DXpedition  40  years  ago  and 
I  still  remember  every  minute 
of  it.  Wow;  that  was  an  exciting 


trip!  We  almost  got  killed  ... 
twice!  We  went  to  Navassa 
Island,  down  between  Haiti 
and  Jamaica.  It's  a  little  desert 
island  (about  three  square 
miles)  with  high  cliffs  all 
around,  so  even  getting  onto 
the  island  was  a  challenge.  I 
was  the  licensee  and  got  the 
call  KC4AR  Some  chap  in 
Alabama  has  the  call*  now 
that  they've  changed  the 
calisign  system. 

Then  there  was  the  all-ham 
African  hunting  safari  in 
northern  Kenya,  That  was  an- 
other trip  that  none  of  us 
who  were  there  will  ever 
forget  one  minute  of.  Robby 
5Z4HRR  talked  me  into  orga- 
nizing it  during  our  contacts 
on  20m. 

Nowadays  I  write  mostly 
about  things  I've  researched. 
Have  you  bothered  to  get  off 
your  duff  and  make  it  your 
business  to  learn  about  some- 
thing? What  does  it  take  to 
motivate  you?  It  just  isn't  all 
that  difficult  to  learn  more 
about  something  than  99.9% 
of  the  public  knows, 

If  you  can*t  write  from 
your  experience  or  something 
you've  learned  about,  how 
about  trying  poetry?  We've 
about  zero  ham  poets.  I  love 
poetry,  so  let's  see  what  you 
can  do.  And  please  make  it 
scan,  okay?  Golly,  they  taught 
us  how  to  make  poetry  scan 
in  the  3rd  grade.  Do  I  hey  still 
teach  that?  And  they  taught 
us  to  read  music  about  the 
same  time,  and  how  to  tell 
good  paintings  from  bad.  I'll 
bet  they  don't  teach  that  any- 
more. That  education  did  well 
for  me  when  I  got  interested 
in  photography,  and  then  re- 
ally paid  off  when  I  became  a 
TV  cameraman.  Soon  I  was 
made  the  chief  cameraman  at 
WP1X  in  New  York  and  was 
doing  one -hour  variety  shows 
all  with  my  one  camera. 

Instead  of  using  your  com- 
puter to  play  games  or  wast- 
ing time  rattling  around  the 
Internet,  get  into  your  word 
processor  and  let's  see  what 
I  emerges.  Write  for  yourself. 
Write  for  me.  Write  for  vour 
club  newsletter.  Write  to 
friends.  If  you're  m  business, 
then  how  about  a  newsletter 
for  your  customers  to  build 
their  awareness  of  your  prod- 
ucts or  services? 


Just  writing  about  this  was 
fun  for  me.  It  brought  back 
memories  of  the  hunting  sa- 
fari, the  time  we  almost  got 
killed  by  the  Somalian  ban- 
dits ...  and  the  ham  European 
trip  1  oq*anized  on  which  we 
had  an  audience  with  the 
Pope.  And  making  10  GHz 
contacts  from  the  top  of  Mt. 
Monadnock  ,..  once  in  a 
dense  fog  while  contacting 
New  York,  and  several  times 
freezing  my  fingers  in  the 
middle  of  the  night  white  tun- 
ing for  WA1KPS  in  Vermont 
or  Connecticut.  Or  working 
all  continents  one  morning  in 
a  half-hour  when  the  skip  was 
perfect.  Working  slow-scan 
TV  from  Jordan  and  from 
Navassa  (on  my  second  trip 
there  as  KC4DX).  DXing  from 
Swaziland,  Nepal  and  other 
weird  places.  Well,  these  might 
not  be  worth  reading  about  in 
73,  but  such  memories  would 
be  great  for  your  club  news- 
letter ...  so  how  about  writing 
about  your  ham  adventures? 

The  Threat 

I  called  David  Jacobs  to 
ask  some  questions  about  his 
book,  The  Threat,  with  the 
subtitle,  "The  Secret  Agenda: 
What  the  Aliens  Really  Want 
..,  and  How  They  Plan  to  Get 
It,"  ISBN  0-684-81484-6, 
Simon  &  Schuster,  288  pages, 
1998,  He  was  too  busy  to  an- 
swer many  questions,  and  I 
had  a  bunch.  He's  a  history 
professor  at  Temple  Univer- 
sity and  had  a  stack  of  papers 
to  grade  before  taking  off  for 
somewhere  the  next  morning 
to  give  a  talk.  So  I  made  a  list 
of  my  questions  and  snailed 
'em.  Yeah,  when  I  enjoy  a 
book  I  often  call  or  write  the 
author  —  and  that  frequently 
leads  to  some  fascinating  con* 
versations  and  newr  friends. 

Dr.  Jacobs  has  been  teach- 
ine  a  regularly  scheduled 
course  on  UFOs  for  20  years 
and  has  hypnotically  debriefed 
hundreds  of  abductees  in  an 
effort  to  find  out  what  the 
aliens'  program  is  all  about. 
Yes,  there  are  thousands  of 
abductees.  but  very  few  of 
them  remember  anything  about 
their  abductions  unless  put  un- 
der deep  hypnosis.  He  found 


Continued  on  page  64 

73  Amateur  Radio  Today  •  March  1999    61 


NiiFtiber  62  on  your  Feedback  card 


Proprgrtion 


Jim  Gray  W1XU/7 
210  E  Chateau  Circle 
Payson  AZ  85541 
[jimpeg@netzonexom] 


Normally,  a  disturbed  iono- 
sphere would  seem  to  be  all  bad, 
but  such  is  noi  always  (he  case. 
When  disappearing  filaments, 
coronal  holes,  flares,  and  the 
like  appear  on  the  solar  disc  fac- 
ing the  Earth,  we  can  expect 
propagation  disturbances — 
sometimes  so  severe  that  the  Hi- 
bands  virtually  "shut  down'*  be- 
cause  signals  are  absorbed  by 
the  over-stimulated  ionosphere* 

However  once  ihe  effects  be- 
gin to  subside  in  a  day  or  two, 
ihe  ionosphere  could  be  excel- 
lent for  radio  propagation  on  all 
HF  bands.  So,  when  you  see  a  P 
(poor)  or  VP  (very  poor)  on  the 
calendar,  be  sure  to  check  radio 
propagation  on  the  higher  Ill- 
bands  a  day  or  two  after,  even  if 
the  chart  shows  P-F  (poor  to 
fair)  or  (F)  fair,  because  that  is 
when  the  ionosphere  recovers 
und  is  likely  to  be  nt  its  best- 

This  month's  chart  shows  that 
the  best  days  are  likely  lo  be 
March  6th,  7th,  and  1 3th- 1 5th, 
while  the  worst  days  are  likely 
to  be  the  1st.  3rd,  18th,  25th, 
26th?  and  31st. 

Band-by-band  forecast 
10-12  meters 

Expect  morning  F2  path 
openings  to  Europe  and  Africa; 
on  (G)  days,  midday  path  open- 
ings to  South  and  Central 
America,  and  F2  path  openings 
to  Japan,  Australasia  and  the 
Pacific  during  the  afternoon  at 
your  location.  DX  moves  west 
as  the  day  progresses. 


15-17  meters 

Expect  good  DX  paths  to 
most  areas  of  the  world,  with 
excellent  openings  from  the 
northern  hemisphere  to  Africa, 
South  America,  and  the  Pacific 
during  hours  of  daylight  and 
peaking  during  local  afternoon. 
Good  short-skip  communication 
over  1000  miles  will  occur  on 
(G)  days, 

20  meters 

Very  good  DX  openings  to  all 
areas  of  the  world  from  sunrise 
through  the  early  darkness 
hours.  The  signals  will  peak  an 
hour  or  two  after  sunrise  at  your 
location,  and  again  during  the 
afternoon.  Short  skip  beyond 
about  700  miles  will  occur  dur- 
ing daytime  hours. 

30-40  meters 

Good  worldwide  DX  open- 
ings from  sunset  to  sunrise 
should  occur  on  (G)  days.  Noise 
levels  (static)  will  be  higher  as 
Spring  thunderstorms  occur,  and 
can  depress  audibility.  Short 
skip  between  100  and  1000 
miles  will  occur  during  daylight 
hours,  and  at  distances  beyond 
1000  miles  at  night. 

80-160  meters 

On  80,  DX  to  the  southern 
hemisphere  and  to  Europe 
should  occur  after  dark  and  dur- 
ing sunrise  hours — limited,  of 
course,  by  static  noise  levels. 
Daytime  short  skip  to  about  350 
miles,  and  bevond  500  miles 


March  1999 

SUN 

MON 

TUE 

WED 

THU 

FRI 

SAT 

1    P 

2P 

3  P-F 

4  F 

5   F 

6   F-G 

7  G 

8  G-F 

9  F 

10F 

11    F 

12  F-G 

13  G 

14  G 

15  G 

16  G-F 

17  F-P 

18P 

19  P-F 

20  F 

21  F 

22  F 

23  F 

24  F-P 

25  P 

26  P 

27  P-F 

28  F 

29  F 

30  F-P 

31  P 

after  dark,  will  prevail  on  (G> 
days,  On  1 60,  no  daytime  propa- 
gation will  occur  due  to  iono- 
spheric absorption  o\'  >i^nals. 
but  after  dark,  peaking  around 
midnight  and  again  during  the 
predawn  hours,  you  should  be 
able  to  work  many  areas  of  the 
world.  Short  skip  from  1000- 
2000  miles  or  so  will  prevail 
during  the  nighttime  hours  ... 
but  as  always,  it  will  be  limited 
by  high  static  levels  from  thun~ 
derstorm  activity. 


Don't  forget  to  work  the  dark- 
ness path  <x3()  minutes  around 
local  sunset K 

Check  the  bands  above  and 
below  the  suggested  ones  for 
possible  DX  surprises.  Ifs  of- 
ten a  good  idea  to  park  your  re- 
ceiver on  a  seemingly  unused 
frequency  and  just  wait  A  DX 
station  is  very  likely  lo  pop  up 
before  any  one  else  hears  him, 
and  you  can  snag  a  good  catch. 
Good  hunting!  W I XU/7. 


EASTERN  UNITED  STATES  TO: 

GMT                  00         ■■/         04         06        OB        ID         12         '■'+         ifi          ■  -1         20         7  J 

ALASKA 

15/17 

1 6/1 7 

ARGENTINA 

20 

2D 

30/40 

10/12 

10/12 

16/17 

AUSTRALIA 

18/17" 

30/40 

30/40 

20 

20 

20 

15/17 

CANAL  20N!r 

20 

,,;..',il> 

50/40 

20 

2C 

10/12 

10/12 

20 

ENGLAND 

20 

LJ-U  -iU 

30/40 

10/   2 

15/17 

15.17 

20 

/'I 

HAWAII 

In/ 17 

30 

30/40 

30/40 

30/40 

10/12 

IS/17 

INDIA 

JAPAN 

.V: 

20 

20 

15/17 

15/17 

15/17 

20 

MEXJCO 

20/30 

■0*4(1 

an/4o 

20 

20 

15/17 

■vi  / 

30/40 

PHILIPPINES 

1 7/20 

17/20 

PUERTO  RFCO 

30/40 

40tfU 

40/90 

40/80 

40/90 

40/20 

17/20 

10/12 

10/12 

15/17 

15/17 

RUSSIA  [C. I.S.J 

30/40 

20/30 

17/20 

I7.'4fj 

SOUTH  AFRICA 

?0/30 

10/12 

T0/12 

17/20 

T7.'20 

Hi;  h 

WEST  COAST 

CENTRAL  UNITED  STATES  TO: 

ALASKA 

I  20 

WflQ 

17/20 

30.-40 

■  ■■■."., 

^7/20 

15/' 17 

15/T7 

.\KL-ZVJT  \  ■ 

1 7/30 

30/40 

10/12 

1 5/T  7 

AUSTRALIA 

;. :  j : 

TO/12 

17^20 

15/  T  7 

CANAL  ZONE 

20 

30 

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10/12 

IQitZ 

15-17 

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ENGLAND 

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15/17 

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JAPAN 

15*17 

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20MO 

4CUB0 

17,20 

15/17 

MEXICO 

20 

30 

30' JC 

30/40 

10/12 

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PHILIPPINES 

'7  20 

30/40 

I7J2Q 

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ZnTORlCO 

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62   73  Amateur  Radio  Today  •  March  1999 


litre  are  some  u\  the  book*  Mavne 
has  written.  Niune  can  change  vour 
life,  if  you'll  let  them.  If  lire  idea  of 
being  health v,  wealthy  and  wise  is 
of  interest  to  you,  start  reading.  Yes, 
you  can  be  all  that,  but  only  when 
you  know  the  secrets  which  Wayne 
has  spent  a  lifetime  uncovering. 

The  Secret  Guide  to  Health:  Yes, 
there  really  is  a  secret  to  regaining  your 
health  and  adding  30  to  60  years  of 

healthy  living  to  your  life.  The  answer 
is  simple,  but  it  means  making  some 
very  difficult  changes*  Will  you  be 
skiing  the  slopes  of  Aspen  with  me 
when  you're  90  or  doddering  around 
a  nursing  home?  Or  pushing  up  dai- 
sies? No.  Vm  not  selling  any  health 
products.  SmH) 

The  Secret  Guide  to  Wealth:  Just  as 
with  health,  you'll  find  thai  you  have 
been  brainwashed  by  "'the  system" 
into  a  pattern  of  life  that  will  keep  you 
from  ever  making  much  money  and 
having  the  freedom  to  travel  and  do 
what  you  want.  1  explain  how  anyone 
can  get  a  dream  job  with  no  college, 
no  resume,  and  even  without  anv  ex- 

m 

pcrience.  1  explain  how  you  can  get 
someone  to  happily  pay  you  to  team 
what  you  need  to  know  to  start  your 
own  business.  $5  ( M I 
The  Secret  Guide  to  Wisdom:  This 
is  a  review  of  around  a  hundred  books 
I  hat  will  help  you  change  your  life. 
No,  I  don't  sell  these  books.  They're 
on  a  wide  range  of  subjects  and  will 
help  to  make  you  a  very  interesting 
person.  Wait' 1 1  you  see  some  of  the 
gems  you* ve  missed  reading.  $5  (B\ 
Cold  Fusion  Overview:  This  is  both 
a  brief  history  of  eold  fusion,  which  1 
predict  will  be  one  of  the  largesi  in- 
dustries in  the  world  in  the  21st  cen- 
tury, plus  a  simple  explanation  of  how 
and  why  ii  works.  This  new  field  is 
going  to  generate  a  whole  new  bunch 
of  billionaires,  nim  a>  the  personal 
computer  industry  did.  S5  (C) 
The  Bioelectri fie r  Handbook:  This 
explains  how  to  build  or  buy  a  little 
electrical  gadget  that  can  help  clean 
the  blood  of  any  virus,  microbe,  para- 
site, fungus  or  yeast  The  process  was 
discovered  by  scientists  at  the  Albert 
Einstein  College  of  Medicine,  pat- 
ented, and  then  hushed  up.  It's  curing 
AIDS,  hepatitis  C,  and  a  bunch  of 
other  serious  illnesses.  The  circuit  can 
be  built  for  under  520  from  the  in- 
structions in  the  book.  $10  (A) 
Moon  doggie:  After  reading  Rene's 
book,  NASA  \footK-J  Amenta,  I  read 
e\ery  thing  1  could  find  on  our  Moon 
landings.  1  watched  the  videos,  looked 
carefully  at  the  photos,  read  the 
astro  naughts"  biographies,  and  talked 
with  some  of  mv  readers  who  worked 

■r 

for  NASA.  This  book  cites  25  good 
reasons  1  believe  the  whole  Apollo  pro- 
gram had  to  have  been  faked.  $5  (D> 
Mankind's  Extinction  Predictions: 
If  any  one  of  the  experts  who  have 
written  books  predicting  a  soon-to- 


Radio  Bookshop 


come  catastrophe  which  will  virtually 
wipe  us  all  out  arc  right,  we're  in 
trouble.  In  this  book  I  explain  about 
the  various  disaster  scenarios,  from 
Nostradamus,  who  says  the  poles  will 
soon  shift,  wiping  out  97%  of  man- 
kind, to  Sai  Baba.  who  has  recently 
warned  his  followers  to  get  out  of  Ja- 
pan and  Australia  before  Marchoth 
this  year.  The  worst  part  of  these  pre- 
dictions is  the  accuracy  record  of 
some  of  the  experts.  Will  it  be  a  pole 
shift,  a  new  ice  age.  a  massive  solar 
flare*  a  comet  or  asteroid,  or  even 
Y2K?  Tin  getting  ready,  how  about 
you?  $5  (E) 

Wayne's  Submarine  Adventures  in 
WWII:  YesT  I  spent  from  1943- 1945 
on  a  submarine,  right  in  the  middle 
of  the  war  with  Japan.  We  almost  got 
sunk  several  limes,  and  twice  I  was 
in  the  right  place  ai  the  right  time  to 
save  the  boat.  What's  it  reallv  like  to 

m 

be  depth  charged?  And  what's  the 

daily  lite  aboard  a  submarine  like? 
There  are  some  very  funny  stories.  If 
you're  near  Mobile,  please  visit  the 
Drum,  $5(5) 

Improving  State  Government:  Here 
are  24  ways  that  almost  any  stale  gov- 
ernment can  cut  expenses  enor- 
mously, while  providing  far  better  ser- 
vices. I  explain  how  any  government 
bureau  or  department  can  be  gotten 
to  cut  its  expenses  by  at  least  50%  in 
three  years  and  do  it  cooperatively 
and  enthusiastically.  I  explain  how,  by 
applying  a  new  technology  the  stale 
can  make  it  possible  to  provide  all 
needed  services  without  having  to 
levy  any  taxes  at  all f  Read  the  book. 
run  for  your  legislature,  and  let's  get 
busy  making  this  country  work  like 
its  founders  wanted  it  to.  Don't  lease 
this  for  "someone  else"  to  do.  $5  ( L ) 
Travel  Diaries:  You  can  travel  amaz- 
ingly inexpensively     once  you  know 
the  ropey. Enjoy  Sherry  and  my  bud- 
get visits  to  Europe,  Russia,  and  a 
bunch  of  other  interesting  places. 
How  about  a  first  class  flight  to 
Munich,  a  rented  Audi,  driving  to  visit 
Vienna,  Krakow  in  Poland  (and  the 
famous  salt  mines),  Prague,  back  to 
Munich*  and  the  first  class  flight  home 
for  two,  all  for  under  SLO0O\  Yes, 
when  you  know  how  you  can  travel 
tn expensively,  and  still  stay  in  first 
class  hotels.  $5  (T) 
Wayne's  Caribbean  Adventures: 
More  budget  travel  stories  -  where  J 
visit  the  hams  and  scuba  dive  most  of 
the  islands  of  the  Caribbean.  Like  ihe 
special  Liat  fare  which  allowed  us  to 
visit  1 1  countries  in  21  days,  with  me 
diving  all  but  one  of  the  islands, 
Guadeloupe,  where  the  hams  kepi  me 
so  busy  with  parties  I  didn't  have  time 
to  dive.  S5(U) 


Silver  Wire;  Wilh  two  3"  pieces  of 
heavy  pure  silver  wire  -  three  W  bat* 
teries  you  can  make  a  thousand  dol- 
lars worth  of  silver  colloid.  What  do 
you  do  with  it?  It  does  what  the  anti- 
biotics do,  but  germs  can't  adapt  to 
it.  Use  it  to  get  rid  of  germs  on  food, 
for  skin  fungus,  warts,  and  even  to 
drink.  Read  some  books  on  the  uses  of 
silver  colloid,  it's  like  magic.  $15  (Y) 
Classical  Music  Guide:  A  list  of  100 
CDs  which  will  provide  you  with  an 
outstanding  collection  of  the  finest 
classical  music  ever  written.  This  is 
what  you  need  to  help  you  reduce 
stress,  Classical  music  also  raises 
youngsters"  IQs,  helps  plants  grow 
faster,  and  will  make  you  healthier. 
Just  wait "II  you  hear  some  of  Gotschalk's 
fabulous  music!  S5  (Z) 
Reprints  of  My  Editorials  from  ?J, 
Grist  ]:  50  of  my  best  non-ham  oriented 
editorials  from  before  1997.  $5  (F) 
Grist  II:  50  more  choice  non-ham 
editorials  from  before  1997.  S5  (Gj 
1997  Editorials:  240  pages,  216  edi- 
torials discussing  health,  ideas  for 
new  businesses,  exciting  new  books 
I've  discovered,  ways  to  cure  our 
country's  more  serious  problems, 
flight  800,  the  Oklahoma  City  bomb- 
ing, more  Moon  madness,  and  so  on. 
In  three  $5  volumes.  S15  (Ol 
1999  J  an- Aug  kdiln  rials:  !  *N  pages 
in  two  S5  volumes.  Bringing  you  up 
to  date.  SI0  tPl 

Ham-to- Ham:  45  of  my  ham-ori- 
ented editorials.  These  will  help  you 
bone  up  on  ham  history.  Great  stuff 
for  ham  club  newsletter  filler.  Yes,  of 
course  these  are  controversial.  S5  (Q) 
Si  Million  Sales  Video:  How  lo  gen- 
erate extra  million  in  sales  using  PR. 
Hi  is  will  be  one  of  the  best  invest- 
ments your  busine^  e  v  er  made.  S43  ( V ) 
One  Hour  CW:  Using  this  sneaky 
method  even  you  can  team  the  Morse 
Code  in  one  hour  and  pass  that  dumb 
Swpm  Tech-Plus  ham  test.  $5.  (CW) 
Code  Tape  (T5):  This  tape  will  teach 
you  the  letters*  numbers  and  punctua- 


tion you  need  to  know  if  you  are  go- 
ing on  to  learn  the  code  at  1 3  wpm  or 
20  wpm.  S5(T5) 

Code  Tape  (TO):  Once  you  know  the 
code  for  the  letters  (T5)  you  can  go 
immediately  to  copying  13  wpm  code 
fusing  my  system).  This  should  only 
take  two  or  three  days.  S5  (T13) 
Code  Tape  (120):  Stan  right  out  at 
20  wpm  and  master  it  in  a  weekend 
for  your  Extra  Class  license.  S5  (T20) 
Code  Tape  <T25):  Same  deal,  it 
doesn't  take  any  longer  to  handle  25 
v.  pm  as  ir  does  1 3.  Or  use  the  ARRL 
system  &  take  six  months. 55  (T25) 
Wayne  Talks  at  Davlnn:  I  his  is  a  90- 
m  inure  tape  of  the  talk  Vd  have  given 
at  the  Dayton,  if  invited.    S5  (Wh 
Wayne  Talks  at  Tampa:  This  is  the 
talk  I  gave  at  the  Tampa  Global  Sci- 
ences conference.  I  cover  cold  fusion, 
amateur  radio,  health,  books  you 
should  read,  and  so  on.  $5  (W2) 
Stuff  I  didn't  write,  but  you  need; 
NASA  Mooned  America:   Rene 
makes  an  air-tight  case  that  NASA 
faked  the  Moon  landings.  This  book 
will  convince  even  you.  S25  (RI ) 
Last  Skeptic  of  Science:  This  is 
Rene's  book  where  he  debunks  a 
bunch  of  accepted  scientific  beliefs  - 
such  as  the  ice  ages,  the  Earth  being 
a  magnet,  the  Moon  causing  the  tides, 
and  etc.  £25 (R2) 

KJcmcntal  Energy  Subscription:  I 
pKilk  i  this  is  going  to  be  the  largest 
industry  in  the  world  in  about  20-30 
years,  They  laughed  ai  me  when  I  pre- 
dicted the  personal  computer  growth 
in  1975.  PCs  are  now  the  third  larg- 
est industry  in  the  world.  The  elemen- 
tal energy  ground  floor  is  still  wide 
open,  but  then  that  might  mean  gj\  - 
ing  up  watching  ball  games  and  talk 
shows  on  I  he  boim  tube.  £30  for  six 
issues,  (EE).  A  sample  issue  is  $10, 
Three  Gatto  Talks:  A  prize- winning 
teacher  explains  what's  wrong  with 
American  schools  and  why  our  kids 
are  not  being  educated.  Why  are 
Swedish  youngsters*  who  start  school 
at  7  years  of  age,  leaving  our  kids  in 
the  dust?  Our  kids  are  intentionally 
being  dumbed  down  by  our  school 
system  -  the  least  effective  and  most 
expensive  in  the  world.  $5  |K  i 


Radio  Bookshop 

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Foreign  L  SS44  b>  sea.  USStw  hy  air.  Whew! j 

73  Amateur  Radio  Today  *  March  1999    63 


Number  64  on  your  Feedback  card 


Barter  'n'  Buy 


Turn  your  old  ham  and  computer  gear  into  cash  now.  Sure,  you  can 
wait  for  a  hamfest  to  try  and  dump  it,  but  you  know  you'll  get  a  far 
more  realistic  price  if  you  have  it  out  where  100,000  active  ham  po- 
tential buyers  can  see  it.  rather  than  the  few  hundred  local  hams  who 
come  by  a  flea  market  table.  Check  your  attic,  garage,  cellar  and 
closet  shelves  and  get  cash  for  your  ham  and  computer  gear  before 
It's  too  old  to  sell.  You  know  you're  not  going  to  use  it  again,  so  why 
leave  it  for  your  widow  to  throw  out?  That  stuff  isn't  getting  any  younger! 
The  73  Flea  Market,  Barter  'n*  Buyt  costs  you  peanuts  (almost) — 
comes  to  35  cents  a  word  for  individual  (noncommercial!)  ads  and 
$1.00  a  word  for  commercial  ads.  Don  t  plan  on  telling  a  long  story. 
Use  abbreviations,  cram  it  in.  But  be  honest.  There  are  plenty  of  hams 
who  love  to  fix  things,  so  if  it  doesn't  work,  say  so. 
Make  your  list,  count  the  words,  including  your  call,  address  and  phone 
number  Include  a  check  or  your  credit  card  number  and  expiration.  If 
youre  placing  a  commercial  ad,  include  an  additional  phone  number 
separate  from  your  ad. 

This  is  a  monthly  magazine,  not  a  daily  newspaper,  so  figure  a  couple 
months  before  the  action  starts,  then  be  prepared.  If  you  get  too  many 
calls,  you  priced  it  low.  If  you  don't  get  many  calls,  too  high. 
So  get  busy.  Blow  the  dust  off,  check  everything  out,  make  sure  it  still 
works  right  and  maybe  you  can  help  make  a  ham  newcomer  or  re- 
tired old  timer  happy  with  that  rig  you  re  not  using  now.  Or  you  might 
get  busy  on  your  computer  and  put  together  a  list  of  small  gear/parts 
to  send  to  those  interested? 

Send  your  ads  and  payment  to:  "3  Magazine,  Barter  *n* 
Buy,  70  Hancock  Rd.,  Peterborough  XH  03458  and  get  set 
for  the  phone  calls.  The  deadline  for  the  June  1999  classi- 
fied ad  section  is  April  10,  1999. 


President  Clinton  probably  doesn't 
have  a  copy  of  Tormet's  Electronics 
Bench  Reference  but  you  should, 
check  it  out  at  [www.ohio.net/ 
-rtormet/index.htmj— over  100 
pages  of  circuits,  tables,  RF  design 
information,  sources,  etc, 

BNB530 

BIOELECTRIFIER™  5  Hz  micro 
current  supply  for  plant  and  animal 
research.  Semi-Kit  $38-00.  As- 
sembled complete  with  batteries  and 
silver  electrodes  $89.50.  Add  $2.50 
postage,  Thomas  Miller,  314  South 
9th  Street.  Richmond  IN  47374. 

BNB343 

RF  TRANSISTORS  TUBES 
2SC2879,  2SC1971,  2SCt972r 
MRF247,  MRF455.  MB87t9f 
2SC1307,  2SC2029,  MRF454. 
2SC3133.  4CX250B.  12DQ6P 
6KG6A.  etc.  WESTGATE.  1  (800) 
213*4563.  BNB6000 

Cash  for  Collins;  Buy  any  Collins 
Equipment.  Leo  KJ6HI.  Tel  ./FAX 
(310)  670-6969.  [radioleo@earthlink. 
net]  BNB425 

MAHLON  LQOMIS,  INVENTOR  OF 
RADIO,  fay  Thomas  Appleby  (copy- 
right 1967).  Second  printing  avail- 
able from  JOHAN  K.V.  SVANHOLM 
N3RF.  SVANHOLM  RESEARCH 
LABORATORIES.  PO.  Box  81, 
Washington  DC  20044  Please  send 
S25.00  donation  with  $5.00  for  S&H 

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METHOD  TO  LEARN  MORSE 
CODE  FAST  AND  WITHOUT 
HANGUPS  Johart  N3RF.  Send 
$1.00  &  SASE.  SVANHOLM  RE- 
SEARCH LABORATORIES,  P.O.  Box 
81,  Washington  DC  20044  USA. 

BNB421 

HOBBY  FACTORY,  Used  Ham  & 
Military  Gear  on  Display,  Repairs, 
Bought,  Sold,  &  Traded,  Rick 

W1DEJ,  1111  North  Shore  Rd.h  Re~ 
vere,  MA,  Tel.  781 -485-1 4T4f  Fax: 
781-289-1717.  E-mail:  [hobfact® 
tiac.net],  Web:  [www.tiac.  net/ users/ 
hobfact].  BNB199 

QSL  CARDS.  Basic  Styfes:  Black 
and  White  and  Color  Picture  Cards; 
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WANTED;  High  capacity  12  von  so- 
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COLLOIDAL  SILVER  GENERA- 
TORI  Why  buy  a  *box  of  batteries" 
for  hundreds  of  dollars?  Current  reguh 
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with  #12  AWG  silver  electrodes, 
$74.50  Same,  but  DC  powered, 
S54.50,  Add  $2.50  shipping.  Thomas 
MHIer  314  South  9th  Street  Rich- 
mond IN  47374.  BNB342 


Great  New  Reference  Manual  with 
over  100  pgs  of  P/S,  transistor,  radio, 
op-amp.  antenna  designs,  coil  wind- 
ing tables ,  etc  See  details  at  [ www.ohio . 
neV-rtormet/index.htm]  or  send  check 
or  MO.  for  $19.95  +  $2.00  P&H  to 
RMT  Engineering,  6863  Buffham  Rd.f 
Seville  OH  44273,  BNB202 

Electricity,  Magnetism,  Gravity, 

The  Big  Bang.  Mew  explanation  of 
bask;  forces  of  nature  in  this  91  -page 
book  coven ng  early  scientific  theories 
and  explonng  latest  controversiat  con- 
clusions on  tneir  relationship  to  a  uni- 
fied field  theory.  To  order,  send  check 
or  money  order  for  $16  95  ioi  Ameri- 
can Science  Innovations,  PO  Box  155. 
Ciarington  OH  43915.  Web  site  for 
other  products  [http:/Avww.  asi_2000. 
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ALL  HAM  RV  TOUR  of  the  British 
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PO  Box  407,  Solebury,  PA  1 8963.  See 
last  October  73  Magazine  for  feature 
article  on  the  fun  we  had  last  year  in 
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WANTED;  Radio  Shack  HTX  404 
HT,  charger,  6  AA  battery  holder  M 
Zeiders.  7348  Carnival  Ln..  New  Port 
Richey,  FL  34653.  BNB224 


Never  shv  die 

continued  from  page  61 

that  most  of  them  started  be- 
ing abducted  when  children. 

So  what  did  Dr,  Jacobs  find 
out?  You  don't  want  to  know. 

Well,  I'll  give  you  a  hint. 
The  abductions  have  entirely 
to  do  with  creating  a  breed  of 
alien-human  hybrids  with 
which  iliey  plan  to  repopulate 
our  world.  They've  been  go- 
ing to  lengths  to  keep  this 
program  secret  —  which  ob- 
viously they  have  to  do  in  or- 
der not  to  have  the  rest  of  us 
in  a  panic. 

How  can  we  combat  aliens 
who  can  both  read  our  minds 
and  control  us  so  thoroughly 
that  we  don't  even  know  any- 
thing has  happened?  That's 
enough  to  scare  anyone. 

Anyway,  Jacobs  has  pieced 
together  hints  that  the  aliens 
have  given  here  and  there  to 
ahduetees,  but  the  memories 
of  which  hadn't  been  wiped 
out  beyond  the  ability  of  deep 
hypnosis  to  retrie\e 


So  when  are  the  aliens  go- 
ing to  replace  most  of  us  with 
hybrids?  The  target  seems  to 
be  1999!  Of  course  there's  al- 
ways the  chance  that  some  of 
the  other  aliens  may  not  let 
the  greys  get  away  with  this 
scheme.  One  thing  is  for  sure 
—  we'll  soon  see.  How  reli- 
able is  Jacobs7  information? 
A  Roper  survey  showed  that 
about  2%  of  Americans  have 
been  abducted,  so  a  breeding 
program  with  five  million  do- 
nors for  breeding  hybrids 
could,  after  a  few  years,  pro- 
vide them  with  one  heck  of 
an  army,  Jacobs  gave  the 
most  credibility  to  the  stories 
of  abductees  who  were  with 
other  abductees  (whom  they 
didn't  know)  during  their  ex- 
periences and  both  reported 
the  same  events. 

As  a  known  troublemaker 
and  iconoclast.  1*11  probablv 
be  one  of  the  first  to  be  elimi- 
nated. This  could  make  the 
175  million  people  that  we 
and  our  governments  have 
killed  so  far  in  this  centun 
amount  to  nothing! 


We  would  appreciate  it  if  you  would 

TELL  A  FRIEND 
about  the  NEW  73  and  show  him  this  copy! 


64   73  Amateur  Radio  Today  •  March  1999 


JRC 


160-10  Meters  PLUS  6  Meter  Transceiver 


Fifteen  reasons  why  your  next  HF 
transceiver  should  be  a  JST-245.  .  , 


I  All-Mode  Operation  (SSB^CW^M^FSK.FIvl)  on  all  HF  amateur 
bands  and  6  meters.  JST-145,  same  as  JST-245  but  without  6 
meters  and  built-in  antenna  tuner. 

+  JST-145  COMING  SOON  * 

2  MOSFET  POWER  AMPLIFIER  •  Final  PA  utilizes  RF  MOSFETs 
to  achieve  low  distortion  and  high  durability.  Rated  output  is  10 
to  150  watts  on  all  bands  including  6  meters. 

3  AUTOMATIC  ANTENNA  TUNER  •  Auto  tuner  included  as 
standard  equipment.  Tuner  settings  are  automatically  stored 
in  memory  for  fast  QSY, 

4  MULTIPLE  ANTENNA  SELECTION  •  Three  antenna  connec- 
tions are  user  selectable  from  front  panel.  Antenna  selection  can 
be  stored  in  memory, 

5  GENERAL  COVERAGE  RECEIVER  •  100  kHz~30  MHz,  plus  48- 
54  MHz  receiver.  Electronically  tuned  front-end  filtering,  quad- 
FET  mixer  and  quadruple  conversion  system  (triple  conversion 
for  FM)  results  in  excellent  dynamiG  range  (>1  OOdB)  and  3rd  order 
ICP  of  +20dBm. 

6  IF  BANDWIDTH  FLEXIBILITY  •  Standard  2 A  kHz  filter  can  be 
narrowed  continuously  to  800  Hz  with  variable  Bandwidth  Control 
(BWC).  Narrow  SSB  and  CW  filters  for  2nd  and  3rd  IF  optional. 

7  QRM  SUPPRESSION  *  Other  interference  rejection  features 
include  Passband  Shift  {PBS),  dual  noise  blanker,  3-step  RF  atten- 
ualion,  IF  notch  filter,  selectable  AGC  and  all-mode  squelch. 


8  NOTCH  TRACKING  •  Once  tuned,  the  IF  notch  filter  will  track  the 
offending  heterodyne  (±10  Khz)  if  the  VFO  frequency  is  changed. 

9  DDS  PHASE  LOCK  LOOP  SYSTEM  •  A  single-crystal  Direct 
Digital  Synthesis  system  is  utilized  for  very  low  phase  noise. 

1  0  CW  FEATURES  *  Full  break-in  operation,  variable  CW  pitch,  built 
in  electronic  keyer  up  to  60  wpm. 

I  I  DUAL  VFOs  *  Two  separate  VFOs  for  split-frequency  operation. 
Memory  registers  store  most  recent  VFO  frequency,  mode,  band- 
width and  other  important  parameters  for  each  band. 

I  2  200  MEMORIES  •  Memory  capacity  of  200  channels,  each  of 
which  store  frequency,  mode,  AGC  and  bandwidth. 

13  COMPUTER  INTERFACE  •  Built-in  RS-232C  interface  for 
advanced  computer  applications. 

I  4  ERGONOMIC  LAYOUT  •  Front  panel  features  easy  to  read  color 
LCD  display  and  thoughtful  placement  of  controls  for  ease  of  oper- 
ation. 

15  HEAVY-DUTY  POWER  SUPPLY  *  Built-in  switching  power 
supply  with  *sifenf  cooling  system  designed  for  continuous 
transmission  at  maximim  output 


JRC  I  0Gpon  Radio  Co ,  lid. 


430  Park  Ave.,  2nd  Floor  New  York,  NY  10022        Phone;  (212)  355-1180  Fax:  (212)  319-5227 

CIRCLE  159  ON  HEADER  SERVICE  CARD 


!*^HIK*     — - 


PC  not 
included 


The  Kachina  505DSP 
Computer  Controlled  HF 

Transceiver  After  twenty  years 
of  building  commercial 
transceivers  in  Arizona,  Kachina 
has  decided  the  time  is  right  for  a 
new  approach  to  amateur  radio. 
The  Kachina  505DSP  is  nothing 
short  of  a  revolution  in  HF 
transceivers. 

Why  Use  Knobs  if  You  Have 
Windows?  The  old-fashioned 
front  panel  has  become  too 
cluttered  to  be  useful.  Too  many 
knobs,  too  many  buttons. 
Kachina's  505DSP  transceiver 
connects  to  your  computers 
serial  port  and  is  completely 
controlled  under  Windows'".  With 
optional  cables,  the  radio  may  be 
remotely  located  up  to  75  feet 
away  from  your  computer. 
Imagine  combining  a  state-of- 

Windows  fe  osoft  Corp, 


the-art  DSP  transceiver  with  the 
processing  power  and  graphics 
capabilities  of  your  PC  and  you'll 
soon  wonder  why  all  radios 
aren't  designed  this  way.  Why 
settle  for  a  tiny  LCD  display 
when  your  computer  monitor  can 
simultaneously  show  band 
activity,  antenna  impedance, 
heat  sink  temperature,  SWR. 
forward  and/or  reflected  power 
and  a  host  of  other  information? 

16/24  Bit  DSP/DDS 
Performance  In  addition  to 
100%  computer  control,  the 
Kachina  505DSP  offers 
exceptional  16/24  bit  DSP/DDS 
performance.  IF  stage  DSR 
"brick-wair  digital  filtering, 
adaptive  notch  filters  and  digital 
noise  reduction,  combined  with 
low  in-band  IMD  and  high 
signako-norse  ratio,  produce  an 


excellent  sounding  receiver, 
Sophisticated  DSP  technology 
achieves  performance  levels 
unimaginable  in  the  analog 
world.  The  transmitter  also 
benefits  from  precise  16/24  bit 
processing.  Excellent  carrier  and 
opposite-sideband  suppression 
is  obtained  using  superior 
phasing-method  algorithms.  The 
RF  compressor  will  add  lots  of 
punch  to  your  transmitted  signal 
without  adding  lots  of  bandwidth, 
and  the  TX  equalizer  wilt  allow 
you  to  tailor  your  transmitted 
audio  for  more  highs  or  lows. 


The  K 

505DSPCompu 
Controlled 
Transceiver 


Features: 

Works  with  any  Computer 
Running  Windows  3.1,  95 
or  NT 

■  Covers  all  Amateur  HF 
Bands  plus  General 
Coverage  Receiver 

i  IF  Stage  16/24  Bit  Digital 
Signal  Processing  (DSP) 

II  DSP  Bandpass  Filter 
Widths  from  100  Hz  to  3.5 

kHz  (6  kHz  in  AM  Mode) 

Band  Activity  Display  with 
"Point  and  Click" 
Frequency  Tuning 

On-screen  Antenna 
■Smith"  Chart,  Logging 
Software  and  Help  Menus 

Automatic  Frequency 
Calibration  from  WWV  or 
Other  External  Standard 

"Snapshot  Keys  for 
Instant  Recall  of 
Frequencies  and  Settings 

Optional  Internal  Antenna 
Tuner 


Seeing  is  Believing 
American-made  and  designed, 
and  able  to  stand  on  its  own 
against  the  world's  best,  the 
505DSP  is  bound  to  set  the 
standard  for  all  that  follow.  But 
don  t  take  our  word  for  it- 
Visit  our  website  at 
http://www.kachina-a2.com 
for  detailed  specifications,  to 
download  a  demo  version  of  our 
control  software,  or  to  see  a 
current  list  of  Kachina  dealers 
displaying  demonstration  models 
in  their  showrooms. 


KACHINAH) 

COMMUNICATIONS,  INC. 

RO.  Box  1949¥  Cottonwood,  Arizona  86326,  U.S.A. 
Fax;  (520)  634-8053,  Tel:  (520)  634-7828 
E-Mail:  sales ©kachina-azxorn 


is  and  fe        ;  subject  to  change  without  notice.